L13^ 



? ■> 



A Comparative Study of the Play 

Activities of Adult Savages 

and Civilized Children 



An Investigation of the Scientific 
Basis of Education 



By L. ESTELLE APPLETON, PH.D. 

Head of the Department of Education and Superintendent of the Normal Training School 
Marshall College, Huntington, fVest Virginia 



CHICAGO 

THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS 

1910 



A Comparative Study of the Play 

Activities of Adult Savages 

and Civilized Children 



An Investigation of the Scientific 
Basis of Education 



By L. ESTELLE APPLETON, PH.D. 

Head of the Department of Education and Superintendent of the Normal Training School 
Marshall College^ Huntington^ fVett Virginia 



CHICAGO 

THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS 

1910 



'.'V 



v'V 



Copyright 1910 By 
The University of Chicago 



Published June, 19 10 



Composed and Printed By 

The University of Chicago Press 

Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. 



©CI.A265794 



PREFACE 

Whoever has listened at educational gatherings to interminable dis- 
cussions as to whether high-school courses should consist of four years' 
work or six; whether colleges should regulate the work of secondary schools, 
or secondary schools condition the work of colleges; whether promotions 
should be made once a year, or twice, or four times; where, in the curricu- 
lum, languages should be introduced; how much time should be given 
to purely "cultural studies," to manual training, and to arts; whether 
sciences should supersede the "disciplinary" studies, and so forth, and so 
forth, ad infinitum— whoever, we say, has listened to these endless disputa- 
tions beginning nowhere and ending where they began, can hardly have 
failed to exclaim, "There must be some basis for the decision of all these 
points, which has never yet been reached, some ultimate controlling prin- 
ciple, to which all minor questions of form and content, of quantity and 
distribution, must be referred!" That such a principle is brought into 
clear and complete definition by the study here undertaken is not claimed 
by the author; but it is believed that it makes some real advance toward the 
discovery of such a principle. 

If the comparison of phylogenetic and ontogenetic play activities has 
taught us anything, it is that physical and mental life are so closely cor- 
related that the type of the one cannot be dissociated from the type of the 
other in any individual. Hence any art of instruction, to be adequate to 
the situation, must likewise change in type from individual to individual, 
as well as from age to age. This statement of the principle, as a mere 
statement, is, perhaps, not startlingly original; but it would be startling 
indeed to find a school curriculum conforming to it. 

The difficulty in the way of such detailed adaptation is not so much in 
the failure of educators to comprehend the need, as in ignorance of how to 
meet the situation. Recognizing the inadequacy of past methods of instruc- 
tion, they have added subject after subject to the school curriculum, in the 
vain hope that each new addition would overcome the deficiencies of the 
past. The analysis of play activities into their elements, however, and a 
determination of what elements predominate at different ages suggest the 
hypothesis that adaptation of the curriculum to actual growth conditions 
consists, not so much in introducing new subjects or eliminating old ones, 
as in analyzing each lesson, in whatever book or subject it may chance to 



IV PREFACE 

be, into its psychological elements and in emphasizing just those particular 
elements which call forth from the particular individual the strongest 
response at his particular period of development. 

We regret that the original charts in which the various plays and games 
are analyzed in order to find wherein the attraction lies are not published 
with the manuscript, but it is believed that to the ordinary reader conclusions 
only will be of interest rather than a multiplication of minute analytical 
details. The different rubrics have, therefore, been merely named, and 
typical illustrations are given together with deductions, the charts them- 
selves being reserved for a more comprehensive work. 

The author is greatly indebted to Dr. G. Stanley Hall, of Clark Uni- 
versity, and to Professor L. T. Hobhouse and Dr. Alfred Haddon, of Lon- 
don University, for encouragement to go forward and complete a study 
undertaken and continued in the face of many discouragements. Except 
for the generous appreciation of the persons above named, and the much- 
prized opportunity for study, afforded, during the past year, by a Senior 
Fellowship in Clark University, the following study would probably not 
have been published. 

Sincerest thanks are also hereby extended to Dr. G. A. Dorsey, curator 
of the Field Columbian Museum in Chicago, for assistance in anthropologi- 
cal research; also to Dr. C. H. Judd, of the University of Chicago, for 
reading the proof and otherwise greatly assisting 

The Author 
Marshall College 
Huntington, W.Va. 
January i, 1910 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

I. Introduction i 

1 . Relation of Present Study to Pedagogy and to Genetic Psychology 

2. Method of Investigation 

3. Selection of Tribes to Be Studied 

II. Analysis of Plays of Savages 8 



Five Tribes — Veddahs, Australians, Bushmen, Yahgans, 
Eskimos 

III. Analysis of Plays of Civilized Children .... 42 

Five groups — Nevi^ York, Brooklyn, Washington, South 
Carolina, Worcester^ 

IV, General Comparison of the Tvi^o Fivefold Groups, with 
Respect to Play Characteristics 50 

V. Study of Children's Play by Periods 55 

1. First Period — Years One to Three 

2. Second Period — Years Three to Seven 

3. Third Period — Years Seven to Twelve 

4. Fourth Period — Years Twelve to Seventeen 

5. Fifth Period — Years Seventeen to Twenty-three 

VI, Comparison of Savage Play with Successive Periods of 

Children's Play 70 

1. With Respect to Somatic Characteristics 

2. With Respect to Types of Organization 

3. With Respect to Psychological Characteristics 

VII. Conclusions 74 

1. With Respect to Phylogenetic and Ontogenetic Parallelism 

2. With Respect to Genesis of Play Activities 
A Biological Theory of Play 

3. With Respect to Pedagogical Applications 

VIII. Bibliography 85 



"7« view of the facts herein presented, we conclude, then, that although a 
similarity certainly exists between the play of the child race and the child 
individual, especially with respect to sojnatic characteristics, yet a process 
of differentiation has been going on throughout the cultural period which has 
profoundly modified, not only the final product, i.e., the product found in 
civilization, but also all the intervening stages. It is our belief that this 
differentiation is shown to a slight extent in the physical organism itself, so 
that the physical body of the highest type found in civilization is somewhat 
more sensitive to stimulation than is the body of the highest type of savage. 
This opinion is not based, however, entirely upon the study of play, but 
partly upon a supplementary study on "Somatic Characteristics.^^ The chief 
difference appears, however, in the intellectual aspect of their amusements, 
and is a difference not of kind but of proportions, or, as we may say, of emphasis. 
.... But this difference of proportions is not acquired in any given indi- 
vidual by living the life of a savage until the limit of his development is 
reached, then adding to that product something more, which extends develop- 
ment in ontogenesis to the point reached in civilization. The differentiation 
in parallelism is much more fundamental, reaching back to the beginnings 
of psychical life, and probably far back into the physical organism itself." — 
P. 74. 



INTRODUCTION 

References (superior figures) throughout the text are to works in the Bibliography 
at the end, where cross-references are given. 

The following paper is submitted as a contribuion to pedagogy and also 
to genetic psychology. Its bearing upon pedagogy will be immediately ap- 
parent from its relation to the "culture-epoch theory" — the 
Relation to theory that the child recapitulates the psychical as well as the 
e ag-osry physical evolution of his race, and hence that his mental 
PsvclioloffV growth is best promoted by assimilation of the cultural 
products belonging to that stage of race development, which 
corresponds to his own [See page 75.] Its bearing upon genetic psychology 
is twofold and may need, perhaps, to be more clearly defined at the outset. 

Professor Baldwin has already pointed out-* that, through the invasion 
into psychology of the theory of evolution, we are no longer satisfied with a 
mere description of forms of thought characteristic of adult minds only, 
but we now demand di functional psychology, a knowledge of the processes 
and evolutionary changes by which the dim consciousness of infancy 
transforms into the intellectual strength of maturity. In physiological 
science we include the whole series of changes in development, from birth 
to somatic death, under the term "life history." In psychological science 
we comprehend the whole series of transformations in mental development, 
from birth to somatic death, under the term genetic psychology. 

At least, this is the usual meaning of the term, its ontogenetic meaning, 
but it might with equal aptness be applied in its phylogenetic sense, that is, 
to the development of mind in toto, including the whole series of evolutionary 
changes, if there be such changes, from the first premonitions of animal 
mind and the lowest of savage types, to the highest psychological products 
of the most civilized peoples. It is with this double meaning, including 
both the ontogenesis and phylogenesis of psychic manifestation, that the 
term genetic psychology is here used. 

The paper here presented is an attempt to make a beginning of an 
unprejudiced study of the actual mental characteristics of some of the lowest 
of savage tribes with a view to finding whether their mental life does or does 
not reveal any definite types similar to those found in ontogenetic develop- 
ment. Is there, for example, a phase of phylogenesis which corresponds 



2 PLAY ACTIVITIES OF ADULT SAVAGES AND CHILDREN 

to that period of childhood when hunger for sensations seems to be the 
dominating impulse ? Is there a period when the imaginative fancy con- 
trols the intellectual life ? or when the critical judgment awakens to activity ? 
or when philosophical speculation ripens? Is individualism a marked 
characteristic of any one level of phylogenetic development ? or competition ? 
or social feeling ? or altruism ? No doubt we shall find traces of all these 
characteristics at all points in the phylogenetic series, but in ontogenesis 
some of them certainly seem to become emphatic at pretty well-defined 
levels of development. Is this successive evolution of types discernible in 
phylogenesis, and if so, will they assist in any degree in constructing a psycho- 
logical series which will fairly represent a continuous process of development 
from phylogenetic infancy to phylogenetic maturity ? 

The answers to these questions can be found in one way only — not by 
unwarrantable assumption that whatever is different from our own type or 
race is therefore lower; nor by speculative hypothesis, merely — but rather, 
and only, by direct investigation of the psychology of the savage and 
barbarous peoples themselves. Thus far, however, the light which such 
study would have thrown upon the whole subject of race psychology has 
been greatly obscured by the tendency, far too common, on the part of 
investigators, of lumping together all peoples of a comparatively low degree 
of civilization, especially the hunting peoples, under the one rubric 
"savages" and, too frequently, ascribing to all the characteristics of the 
lowest — a method quite as valuable, from the scientific standpoint, as it 
would be for Britons or Germans to lump together the peoples of the United 
States under the rubric "civilized," and to estimate the industries, ethics, 
religion, and general culture of the whole people by that of the civilized 
Negroes and Indians. In the following study on the play activities of 
savages the attempt is made to limit the investigation to a few of the simplest 
and least developed savage tribes known, in order to find the most ele- 
mentary type of human adult mind now existing in its normal condition, 
to the end that it may be used as a basis of comparison, in the study of 
more advanced peoples. 

The method of investigation is what has been called the "collective 
method," by which it is sought to find characteristics which really belong 

to the whole group, not merely those which are the result 
Investiffation *^^ individual variation. The method has been adopted by 

many investigators in child-study, and finds its largest 
illustration, perhaps, in the psychological studies directed by Dr. G. Stanley 
Hall, which have appeared from time to time in the Pedagogical Seminary,'^ 
and in Studies in Education edited by Professor Earl Barnes. ^ In the two 



INTRODUCTION 3 

volumes which the latter devotes to these studies, Professor Barnes attempts 
to ascertain (i) the varying types of mental life which characterize the 
individual in passing from infancy to early manhood and womanhood, and 
(2) the age at which these types become predominant. By a study of the 
child's attitude toward punishment he finds that the six-year-old child, if 
free to carry out his inclinations, would administer a wholly arbitrary and 
very severe punishment, entirely without relation to the motives of the of- 
fender, to the enormity of the offense, or even to laws existing for the express 
purpose of regulating such punishments. The same child at thirteen or 
fourteen years of age begins to take motives and mitigating circumstances 
into consideration and to temper severity with mercy in prescribing what the 
punishment shall be, while at sixteen years of age he will waive his personal 
inclinations and accept the punishment established by law. So, too, with 
regard to the critical judgment. In the little child it is almost lacking. He 
accepts blindly the fanciful story, the Santa Claus myth, or the fairy tale, 
without a question as to its truth, or the veracity of the narrator. A little 
later he asks for "true stories"; by the time he is twelve or fourteen 
years old the critical judgment has become active, and at sixteen he 
inclines to reject all evidence which does not stand the test of being "good 
authority." 

To the writer it seemed possible, (i) that a phylogenetic as well as an 
ontogenetic series might present just such a continuous and perfectly normal 
series of changes from one mental attitude to another, at different levels of 
phylogenetic development; (2) that the viewpoint of the savages themselves 
might be determined, in many instances, by a method somewhat similar to 
that employed by the previously mentioned authors. In making this 
incursion into an unworked department of genetic psychology, the play 
activities of adult savages seemed to furnish a fruitful field of investigation 
as a starting-point, the conclusions in regard to which appear in the present 
paper. 

It would have been extremely desirable to use exactly the same method 
of investigation, with respect to the psychology of savages, as has been 
employed in the study of child psychology, namely, the questionnaire 
method, by means of which the views of children are expressed in their own 
words. Unfortunately, this method is impossible of application with 
savages, who can neither read nor write. We are forced then to confine 
our investigations to such facts as are revealed in their institutions, customs, 
mythology, etc., and by studies of unprejudiced travelers and investigators 
and scientists. Our results will not, therefore, be quite so reliable as in 
case of the data obtained from children. Nor can we expect that the con- 



4 PLAY ACTIVITIES OF ADULT SAVAGES AND CHILDREN 

elusions reached will be final — our knowledge of the primitive peoples is 
too incomplete for that — but even with such limitations, it is believed that 
we nevertheless have access to a rich field of investigation, hitherto neglected, 
and that even if the studies referred to fail utterly to establish the specific 
conclusions for which they were undertaken, they still have an ethnological 
value of their own, quite independent of the specific psychological questions 
involved. It must not be forgotten, however, that, 

(a) Any psychological conclusions reached in the study of play must be 
verified and supplemented by studies of other mental phenomena of the 
same tribes, for example, the psychical characteristics of their art, language, 
mythology, science, music, ownership of property, and so forth. 

(b) Intermediate and higher forms of civilization must be studied by the 
same method as the lower types here introduced, before any continuity of 
relationship can be affirmed between one group and another in the phylo- 
genetic series. 

The study is inductive. We have steadfastly refused to be committed, 
mentally, to either side of the discussion, except as the evidence itself — in 
some cases leading to quite unexpected inferences — has compelled us. 
Hence, we have no thesis to defend. Nevertheless, for the sake of greater 
clearness of thought, the general conclusion of the study is given on p. vii. 
Minor conclusions will be found on pp. 74-83. It will be seen by a reference 
to those pages that our conclusions partly agree and partly disagree with 
the so-called recapitulation theory, if by that theory is "meant entire agree- 
ment between racial and individual development. So far as somatic 
characteristics of play activities are concerned, very close though not perfect 
correspondence is found between the savage and the child. In the matter 
of organization of play activities, wide differences appear, while in the 
psychological characteristics of their play those qualities, such as, for 
example, rhythm, dramatization, and competition, which, with civilized 
children, are exceptionally strong in very early life, are also very strong with 
the savages — indeed, it would almost seem even more so with them than the 
children. On the other hand, the more purely abstract and intellectual 
phases of children's play are almost absolutely lacking. 

It would thus seem that disparities in ontogenesis and phylogenesis 
appear in psychological development, in quite as marked a degree as Pro- 
fessor Lillie (see p. 75) affirms in biological development; and they tend 
to raise the question whether biological and psychological variations may 
not even stand to each other in the relation of cause and effect, or at least 
of correspondence. The possibility of such a relation has led to the formu- 
lation of what we have termed "the biological theory of play," for a wider 



INTRODUCTION 5 

application of which we must refer to a not yet completed study on somatic 
characteristics. 

From what has just been said regarding lack of correspondence in 
recapitulation, it follows that we also fail to find complete confirmation of 
the culture-epoch theory, i.e., the theory that the subject-matter of instruc- 
tion during any period of the child's development should consist of the 
cultural products of the race, which have developed during the period which 
is comparable to the child's stage of development. For while some phases 
of a particular stage of race development, as, for example, physical char- 
acteristics, might correspond quite closely to those of the child at some 
particular time, another phase of the same period, reasoning power, for 
example, might be far behind that of the child. Hence culture products, 
art, literature, etc., if used, should not be restricted to any particular stage 
of race development, as the hunting stage, or the agricultural, but should 
be gleaned from whatever source will awaken a keen response on the part 
of the child. His interest in the product will be the surest proof of its 
fitness for his use. 

With this preliminary survey of the whole field of investigation we pass 
to a more definite consideration of our specific problem. 

The first question which confronts us in the practical solution of our 
problem is the choice of specific savage tribes to be studied. In making 
this decision two conditions must be satisfied: (i) They 
What Specific niygt j^g low in savagery, even as compared with other 
p^' Ph^ 9 savage peoples, in order that the simplest possible type may 
be obtained; (2) the groups to be studied must be chosen 
from such various locations, and conditions of environment, and must be 
so widely separated from one another, that if any common characteristics 
do appear, it will be because they are universal to all peoples of a similar 
degree of culture, not merely the result of circumstance and environ- 
ment. 

In fulfilling the first of these conditions, the writer must be exonerated 
from all charges of prejudice in favor of such tribes as would exemplify 
or prove a pet theory, inasmuch as almost absolute ignorance of all of 
them, at the time when this study was begun, made a prejudicial choice 
impossible. Indeed, it is now believed that a somewhat different selection, 
for example, in the choice of the Eskimos, would have led to results much 
more striking than those here obtained. Some of the Indian tribes of Cali- 
fornia are possibly of a lower type than the Eskimos. Nevertheless as one 
Indian tribe was already selected from South America, it seemed better to 
retain the Eskimos in the phylogenetic group, for the sake of greater racial 



6 PLAY ACTIVITIES OF ADULT SAVAGES AND CHILDREN 

variety, and also because of the abundance and reliability of data which 
can be obtained concerning them. 

Nor, under the circumstances, could we have any opinion as to whether 
the study here proposed would militate for or against the theory of onto- 
genetic and phylogenetic parallelism. It is the belief of the writer that the 
whole subject is, at least in its main contentions, somewhat in disfavor, at 
the present time, both with psychologists and anthropologists. To throw 
light upon the subject, on€ way or the other, has been the only controlling 
motive in the selection of data. Inadequacy of knowledge may make the 
conclusions incorrect, but inadequate knowledge is a difficulty inhering in 
every attempt at scientific investigation, and can only be met by further 
investigation, to stimulate which is one of the chief aims of this paper. 

In estimating the culture of primitive races, we are learning more and 
more humility in the expression of opinion, as we are more and more led to 
realize how much ignorance and "the personal equation" have exerted 
an influence in the formation of those opinions. We will state, however, 
what have been the current estimates as to which tribes are considered 
lowest in civilization. 

Karl Bucher names the following groups of savages, as being the lowest 
known tribes: the Forest Indians of Brazil; the Bushmen of South Africa; 
the Batuas in the Congo Basin; the Veddahs in Ceylon; the Mincopies of 
the Andaman Islands; the Australians; the Negritos of the Philippine 
Islands; the Tasmanians; the Kubus in Sumatra; the Fuegians of Terra 
del Fuego; the Botocudos of South America. Regarding them he says: 
"All the tribes involved in our survey belong to the smaller races of man- 
kind, and in bodily condition give the impression of backward, stunted 
growth." ' 

Morgan names the Australians and most of the Polynesians; 3^ Tylor, 
the Australians and Forest Indians of Brazil.*^' 

Spencer includes in his groups of lowest races the Fuegians, Andamans, 
Veddahs, Australians, Tasmanians (extinct). New Caledonians, New 
Guineans, and Fijiians.ss 

Grosse names the Australians, Veddahs, Bushmen, Yahgans, Eskimos, 
Andamanese, Botocudos, Tasmanians (extinct), Fijiians, the natives of 
Torres Straits, certain Brazilian tribes, the Bantus of South Africa, Pata- 
gonians, etc.^^ 

Out of all these tribes, what specific groups shall we choose for our 
study ? 

In order to secure the greatest variety possible, both in race and in 
environment, suppose we choose a tribe from each of five continents — 



INTRODUCTION 7 

from Asia, the Forest Veddahs of Ceylon; from Australia, the Central 
Tribes; from Africa, the Bushmen; from South America, the Canoe 
Indians of Terra del Fuego; from North America, the Eskimos. 

Space does not permit to set forth here the details, most interesting 
though they are, of habitat, social environment, and personal characteristics 
of these peoples. Suffice it to say there is ample reason to believe that the 
tribes here named are not only extremely low in culture, but are also very 
ancient races.* 

Having, then, thus briefly introduced our friends representing five 
different continents, one tribe from the Torrid zone, one from a tropical, 
one from a subtropical, one from a cold temperate, and one from a frigid 
zone — the first from the beautiful forests and parks of central Ceylon, the 
second from the semi-deserts of Central Australia, the third from the 
mountainous caves and uplands of central and southern Africa, the fourth 
from the bleak islands south of South America, and the fifth from the icy 
Land of the Midnight Sun — we are now prepared to analyze their character- 
istics, in order to discover whether there is, or is not, any prevailing type 
among these heterogeneous fragments of humanity. Among the most 
timid and unsocial of races, the most untutored, the bravest, the most 
treacherous and cruel, and the most hospitable of tribes, shall we find any- 
thing in common, beyond the two characteristics assumed in the beginning, 
namely, humanity and savagery ? 

In the search for psychological data, the play reactions have been 
selected for the initial study of characteristics, as being somewhat more 
tangible than purely mental phenomena, and also because much work has 
been done on the ontogenetic side. We shall not attempt to revise the 
results which have already been reached, regarding the laws revealed in 
children's play. We shall assume that these laws, so far as they have been 
formulated by Professors Hall, Barnes, Gulick, and others, are substan- 
tially correct. Our own effort will be limited to an attempt to extend the 
application of these laws to the race, as well as to the individual, and by 
so doing to determine whether any parallelism exists between the character- 
istics of the two. The savage tribes will be considered in the order in which 
they are named above. 

* In an unpublished manuscript these points have been studied in detail. 



II 

ANALYSIS OF PLAYS OF SAVAGES 

FIRST GROUP 

With the exception of a few simple games for children, which are 
excluded from this study, the Veddahs seem to have few amusements 
other than singing, and the dance accompanied by singing. 
Vftddahs These latter are given only by men, and from the descrip- 

tions we gain the impression that even they are much more 
work than play. Hiller and Furness say of them: ^^ 

We saw no musical instrument at the village "where bugs are plenty," nor 
did we expect to find any musical tendencies in so silent a people; but when we 
asked the chief of the Rock Veddahs if they knew how to dance, he at once sat 
down on the steps of the rest house, and his four younger followers took their 
places in the roadway. Then the old chief sang in a dismal minor key, and the 
men, keeping step with the chanting, twisted and turned and stamped the earth 
alternately with the heel and the ball of the foot. Their arms hung loosely from 
their shoulders and swung with the motions of the body; their eyes were fixed 
on the ground at their feet, and their hair was shaken forward half obscuring their 
faces. The old chief nodded his head to the measured time of the dance, and 
clapped his hands, to which the dancers responded at times by voice or by clapping 
with their hands. There were various figures, and the change in the time, or a 
pause in the song, called for a new method of stamping or twisting. The four 
dancers seemed independent of each other, while following out similar figures, 
twisting in and out close together but never touching. At the conclusion the 
performers were perspiring profusely and seemed exhausted and quite dizzy, but 
at no time did they show any interest in the audience nor did they seem to realize 
that they were performing for the benefit of any one but themselves. The utmost 
solemnity was maintained throughout the dance; in fact we do not remember to 
have seen the slightest sign of mirth or laughter during our whole acquaintance with 
the Veddahs. 

According to the Sarasins, the arrow dance of the Veddahs has a religious 
meaning. It takes place in a circle, about an arrow stuck in the earth. 
The performers move themselves continuously and slowly about the arrow, 
in a peculiar movement, without touching each other, each dancer making 
a half revolution, then another half, and so on. The feet move little, but 
the arms ai-e actively swaying meanwhile, and the head swings with the 
arms. The hair is thrown about with the swinging head. They accom- 

8 



PLAYS OF SAVAGES 9 

pany their dance with informal singing, working themselves up into the 
highest nervous excitement, and becoming covered with perspiration as the 
dance proceeds. At intervals they slap the body with their hands, the slap 
becoming harder as the performance continues, until it can plainly be 
heard some distance away. One after another the performers fall exhausted 
to the ground, where they lie upon the back howling, perhaps, between 
gasps and trembling in every limb.'* 7 

These writers add furthermore that the dance is^painful to look upon, ^ 
that the onlooker becomes excited also in watching the game, and that to 
refrain from breaking in upon it constitutes a test of one's strength of mind. 
The participants are very earnest, and angry if anyone laughs. Tennant 
"could never bring himself to permit the dance to come to its convulsive 
close." The Sarasins believe, however, that while the dance has religious 
motives as its background, it is also employed as an expression of gratitude 
for any gift, inasmuch as, upon receiving the presents of the visitors, 
individual men began the dance again, and soon fell exhausted to the 
ground. This method of returning thanks was especially noticeable in the 
case of one old man, who had received the much-coveted prize of an empty 
old bottle. Hoffmaster also relates that a Veddah to whom a pocket 
handkerchief had been given tied it about his loins and dariced in the 
manner described above. In Nilgala a fire was sometimes built round the 
dance circle, when the hunt had been good, if the dance was to be held in 
the night. Occasionally bows are placed around in a circle in place of 
fire. Sometimes the dance is given in the hope of a better hunt, sometimes 
as a thankoffering for a good one. Sometimes it is given in gratitude for 
the gift of a spectator. 

Another author^? describes a Wewatte dance of a similar nature but 
taking place in the night. The moon had just risen; a brushwood fire 
threw its unsteady light upon the huts where the Veddahs lay, stretched 
out in disorder upon the ground. All was still, when suddenly a Veddah 
began the first verse of a song. It was a signal for all to follow, and together 
they rose up and began the weird, wild dance, accompanying it with hoarse, 
deep tones resembling the death rattle, and striking their bodies with 
blows which answer the purpose of musical instruments, as an accompani- 
ment to the dance. Again they continued the violent exercise until exhaus- 
tion and dizziness overpowered them and they sank groaning and panting 
to the ground. 

It is probable that such dances may also have the further significance 
of charms or exorcisms against wild beasts, as the Veddahs are known to 
have verbal charms of such a nature. 3 



lO PLAY ACTIVITIES OF ADULT SAVAGES AND CHILDREN 

Quite in keeping with this last idea is the motif of another dance of the 
Veddahs, but which the Sarasins think has been introduced from the 
Singhalese. In this the dancers hold branches of trees in their hands 
while they dance around the sick or dying friend who needs their friendly 
ministrations. The dance either summons the good spirits or drives away 
the bad one which is troubling the patient, and he is therefore able to 
recover. 

But these serious-minded children of the forest have their pleasure 
dances also, as well as their hunting and exorcising and curative dances, 
and in these they appear in festive attire, that is, with leafy branches fastened 
about their waists. Unfortunately, we know little about them. 

Closely allied to the dances are the improvised songs, such as that of 
the old woman to whom presents were given, in return for which she 
sang in a few tones constantly repeated, "The gentleman promised cloth, 
he has only given money," until he either gave more or dismissed his 
musician. The author adds that in this improvising of words and music, 
so similar to customs of civilized children, may, perhaps, be found the 
beginnings of poetry.47 

Aside from the descriptions given above, the only other activity of which 
we have found any mention, which could by any means be regarded as a 
play activity, is the practice, not very common apparently, of discharging 
the arrows from the bow with the feet, instead of with the hands. It is 
difficult to see how this custom could have arisen, except in sport, unless it 
might, perhaps, be of some advantage in concealing a hunter from the 
pursued animal. One author, not a reliable one, however, mentions 
swinging from the branches of trees. 

The play activities of any people probably do not represent the highest 

capacity which that people possesses. Some great emergency, or dire 

necessity, or strenuous impulse is necessary to call forth 

I ^ ^ the supreme efifort which reveals the utmost of which human 

Activities nature is capable. Plays do not, for the most part, furnish 

such incentives. They do, however, represent those powers 

of body and mind which have been habitually in use, and which are so well 

established that their exercise has become a pleasure and not a disagreeable 

task. It may be, therefore, that they represent the attainments of the 

people as a whole, even more truly than the sporadic cases of the few 

geniuses, who, intellectually, are much superior to their fellows. Is it 

possible, then, to classify play activities by any method which will make 

them a real criterion of race development, or a basis of comparison between 

different races? 



PLAYS OF SAVAGES II 

They might, for example, be classified from the standpoint of somatic 
characteristics, noting, for instance, whether the physical activity of the 
play furnishes the chief source of enjoyment, or whether 
m the intellectual elements of the play are the real attraction. 

Among the physical characteristics themselves, it may be 
noted, further, whether they are of the somatic type involving the use of 
the large muscles of the body as a whole, or whether they consist rather of 
the specialized order of activities dependent upon careful training and 
adjustment of the finer and more delicate muscles of the body, such as, 
for example, those of the fingers, or of the vocal cords. 

It might be urged that any argument based upon such distinctions would 
fail, since, although such niceties of adjustment may not be found in the 
play of the Veddahs, they are found and habitually used in hunting activities, 
proving that the power of muscular control is really developed, even though 
it may not be used in play. It does not appear, however, even in the 
strenuous necessities of hunting, that the bow and arrow are used among 
the Veddahs with much exactness. Elephants are captured by shooting 
arrows into the feet of the animals until they are too lame to walk. But 
an elephant's foot is a tolerably extensive target. Bailey distinctly states 
that the Veddahs, though a hunting people, "are miserable marksmen," 
and although he repeatedly arranged shooting-matches in order to test their 
skill with bow and arrow, he never was able to find a person who showed 
much ability in this respect. We may probably safely conclude, then, 
that such skill is at least not sufficiently developed to make its exercise a 
recreation. 

It must be distinctly understood, however, that the mere fact of indul- 
gence in plays of the somatic type is of no significance whatever, if taken 
alone. The essential thing to note is that among the Veddahs only such 
plays are found. For example, there are no highly specialized finger plays 
at all comparable, in delicacy of movement, to piano playing, or even to 
the simple modern games of "crockonole" or "tiddledy winks," plays in 
which the result sought is dependent upon the perfect control of the small 
muscles of the fingers, the rest of the body being comparatively quiescent. 
Even those plays in which the arms and hands are chiefly employed, to the 
exclusion of the body as a whole — juggling, for example — seem to be also 
lacking. The question is raised at once as to whether this absence of high 
specialization has any biological significance. Does it mean that those 
muscles which come somewhat late under control in the development of 
the civilized child are not quite so fully developed, and not quite so finely 
organized in the lowest type of savages as with the civilized man ? Or is 



12 PLAY ACTIVITIES OF ADULT SAVAGES AND CHILDREN 

the absence of such plays a purely fortuitous circumstance, without signifi- 
cance of any kind ? This question will be discussed farther on. 

Secondly, plays might be classified from the standpoint of organization. 
We judge of the young child, whose amusements are of the individualistic 
type, consisting almost wholly of running, skipping, and 
Objective other purely physical exercises; who expresses his every 

Type, ,.■ ' ^ ' ' 

Org-anization ^"^•^^'^"' ^'^^'^ ^^ ^ spontaneous song, now m an impromptu 

dance, now by hiding or jumping, but all without fore- 
thought or plan — that is, without organization — and whose amusements 
have little relation to his fellows, other than, perhaps, mere repetition of 
their acts, that he is a less developed child, mentally, than another who is 
full of initiative, who organizes his playmates into groups, for the purpose 
of carrying out more complex designs, or of carrying them out more 
effectively. We judge of a laborer, who goes at his task in a haphazard, 
desultory, aimless manner, that he is a less intelligent man than another 
whose work has been carefully planned and systematized. Shall we infer 
that a people having only simple, unorganized, or little organized plays 
of the physical-exercise type, is a less developed people intellectually than 
another having well-organized and complex games, with rules to be strictly 
followed, definite parts assigned to each player, definite ends to be gained, 
and definite means for accomplishing those ends ? 

Thirdly, plays may be classified from the subjective standpoint, taking 
into consideration the psychological elements which make them attractive, 

apart from mere pleasure in physical activity. Such 

u jec ive 01 gignig^ts are found in sensation, rhythm, mimicry, dramati- 
Psycholog-ical . . , . •; . ^ 

rpypg zation, competition or rivalry, and in intellectual skill or 

alertness, etc. It is well known that in the individual child 

the emphasis shifts from one phase to another of these various elements, in 

his choices of games, during the process of his development, the imitative and 

dramatic plays being chosen at one period, the competitive plays at another, 

and so on. Which of these elements is most characteristic of the lower races ? 

Lastly, inasmuch as each of the three modes of classification named 

above represents a genetic series, there may, possibly, be a gain in applying 

all three tests to the play of the various tribes under consideration, with 

a comparison of results. The latter method may be assumed to be the 

safer one, since each series of results will be a check upon the other. 

SUMMARY 

I. Somatic type. — Summing up, then, the characteristics of the play of 
Veddahs, and applying each of the three tests named above, the somatic 
type is found to be activity of the whole body. 



PLAYS OF SAVAGES I3 

2. Organization. — The type of organization or the objective character- 
istics are: 

(a) Individual play as in the case of the "thanks dance." 

(b) The undefined group, as in the case of the arrow dance, which is 
sometimes performed by three persons, sometimes by many. 

3. Psychological type. — The psychological characteristics are: 

(a) Rhythm, as shown in the various dances, the movements of the body, 
swaying of arms and head, the nodding, clapping, and striking of the body, 
in the simultaneous movements of the dances, in the rudimentary poetry, 
in the repetition of phrases, and in singing. 

(6) Spontaneity, as shown in the impromptu begging songs and " thanks 
dance." 

(c) Mimicry should probably be named as the third characteristic, for, 
although not mentioned and apparently not noticed by the authors who 
describe the above-named dances, the arrow dance is undoubtedly a 
mimetic performance, in which the labored breathing, the "snorting like 
hippopotami," the "Leibeskraften Tone," the fall to the ground, the 
trembling, gasping, and occasional howls between the gasps, the death 
rattle, the convulsive spasms, and, finally, quiescence — all simulate the 
dying animal which the fatal arrow has brought down. 

(d) The element of magic — the belief that in some mysterious way the 
performance in pantomime of the thing desired will bring about the actual 
event. 

(e) Repetition. 

SECOND GROUP 

Concerning the amusements of the Central Australians we quote from 
Eyre: '7 

An amusement of the adults is a large bunch of emu feathers tied together, 
which is held out and shaken as if in defiance by some individual, whilst the others 

advance to try to take it out of his hands. This occasions 
. , ^ . . an amusing struggle before the prize is gained, in which it is 

not uncommon to see from ten to twenty strong and lusty men 
rolling in a heap together. This is a sort of athletic exercise amongst them for 
the purpose of testing each other's strength. On such an occasion they are 

all unarmed and naked At night dances or plays are performed by the 

different tribes in turn, the figures and scenes of which are extensively varied, 
but all are accompanied by songs and a rude kind of music produced by 
beating two sticks together, or by the action of the hand upon a cloak of skins 
rolled tightly together, so as to imitate the sound of a drum. 



14 PLAY ACTIVITIES OF ADULT SAVAGES AND CHILDREN 

With rc};;;ir(l to the dances Eyre says: 

In some of tlie daiues only, are the women allowed to take pari, but they hav« 
dances of their own in wliich the men do not join. At all times they are the chief 
musicians, vocal and instrumental. Sometimes, liowever, they have an old man 
to lead the band, and pitch the tunes, and at others they are assisted by the old 

and young men indiscriminately Being excellent mimics, they imitate, in 

many of their dances, the hal)its and movements of animals. They also represent 
the mode of hunting, hghting, lovemaking, etc. New figures and new songs are 
constantly introduced and arc as much applauded and encored, as more refined 
productions of a similar kind in civilized communities, being sometimes passed 

from tribe to tribe, for a considerable distance Of these amusements the 

natives are passionately fond, and when once .... induced to engage in them, 
there is no knowing when they will give over. Dances are sometimes heUl during 
the day, but these are of rare occurrence, and seem to be ... . connected with 

their ceremonial observations or superstitions The dances vary a great 

deal among the dilTerent tribes, botli as to figures and music, the painting or 
decoration of their pereons, their use of weapons, and the participation of the 

females in tliem The most interesting dances are those which take ))lace 

at the meeting of dilTerent tribes. Each tribe performs in turn, and as there is 
much rivalry, there is a corresponding stimulus to exertion. The dances usually 
commence an hour or two after dark, and are frecpiently kept up the greater part 
of the night, the j)erformers becoming so much excited, that notwithstanding the 

violent exercise .... they are unable to leave off The natives of the 

Rufus and I..ake Victoria (Tarru) have a great variety of dances and figures. 
One of these which 1 witnessed representing the character, habits, and chase of the 
kangaroo was admirably performed and would have drawn down thunilcrs of 
applause at any theater in Europe. One part of this figure, where the whole of 
tlie dancers successively drop down from a standing to a crouching posture, and 
then hop olT in this position, with outstretched arms and legs, was excellently 
executed. The contrast of (heir .sable skins with the broad white strii)es painted 
down their legs; their peculiar attitudes, and the order and regularity with which 
these were kept as they moved in a large semicircle, in the softening light of the fire, 
produced a striking effect, and in connection with the wild and insjiiriting song 

. . . . led me to believe that the scene was unearthly '' 

String puzzles are another species of amusement with them. In these a 
European would be surprised to see the ingenuity they display and the varied and 
singular figures which they produce. Our juvenile attempts in this way are very 
meager and uninteresting compared to theii-s.-' 

We have also an account of an improvised (.lance observed in one of the 
coast tribes: 

The Australians often invent new dances; for example, one who had been 
present at the capture of whales, by a })arty of whites, conceived the ha])py idea 



PLAYS OF SAVAGES 



15 



of imitating the proceedings in a dance, and to carry this notion into effect, a grand 
corrobory was resolved upon. An effigy of the whale was made, round which 
they danced, driving their spears into the figure. '^ 

From the multitudinous dramatic and ceremonial dances of the Austra- 
lians we select the following as typical: 

About ten o'clock of the first day, it was decided to perform a ceremony. 
.... On occasions such as this, every man carries about with him a small wallet, 
which contains the few odds and ends that are needed for decoration in the 

performance of the various ceremonies The men squat on the ground, 

and their wallets are leisurely opened out. There is no such thing as haste 

amongst the Australian natives After some preliminary conversation, 

carried on in whispers, which had reference to the ceremony, the performers being 
instructed in their parts, and also in what the performance represented, a long 
spear was laid on the ground. One or two of the men went out and gathered a 
number of long grass stalks in which the spear was swathed, except about a foot 
at the lower end, which was left uncovered. Then each man present took off his 
hair waist girdle, and these were wound round and round until spear and grass 
stalks were completely enclosed, and a long pole about six inches in diameter and 
about eight feet in length was formed. Then, to the top of it, was fixed a bunch 
of eagle-hawk and emu feathers. When this had been done one of the men by 
means of a sharp flint — a splinter of glass if obtainable is preferred — cut open a 
vein in his arm which he had bound tightly round with hair string in the region of 
the biceps. The blood spurted out in a thin stream, and was caught in the hollow 
of a shield, until about half a pint had been drawn, when the string was unwound 
from the arm, and a finger held on the slight wound until the bleeding ceased. 
Then the down was opened out and some of it was mixed with red ochre, which 
had been ground to powder on a flat stone. Four of the Purula men then began 
to decorate the pole with alternate rings of red and white down. Each of them 
took a short twig, bound a little fur string round one end, dipped the brush thus 
made into the blood, and then smeared this on over the place where the down was 

to be fixed on All the time that this was taking place, the men sang a 

monotonous chant, the words of which were a constant repetition of some such 
simple refrain as, "Paint it around with rings and rings" .... "paint the 
Nurlunja with rings." Every now and then they burst out into loud singing, 
starting on a high note and gradually descending, the singing dying away as the 
notes got lower and lower, producing the effect of music dying away in the dis- 
tance The decorated pole which is made in this way is called a Nurtunja, 

and in one form or another, it figures largely in the sacred ceremonies As 

soon as the Nurtunja was ready, the bodies of the performers were decorated with 
designs drawn in ochre and birds' down, and then, when all was ready, the 
Nurtunja was carried by the Purula man to the ceremonial ground, and there 
.... the two men knelt down, the hinder one of the two holding the Nurtunja 
upright with both hands behind his back. It is curious to watch the way in 



1 6 PLAY ACTIVITIES OF ADULT SAVAGES AND CHILDREN 

which every man who is engaged in performing one of these ceremonies walks; 
the moment he is painted up, he adopts a kind of stage walk with a remarkable 
high knee action, the foot being always lifted at least twelve inches above the 
ground, and the knee bent so as to approach and, indeed, often to touch the 
stomach, as the body is bent forward at each step. 

The Purula man who had been assisting in the decoration now called out to the 

other men, who had not been present, to come up At this summons, all 

the men on the ground came up at a run, shouting as they approached, "whi'a, 
wha! wh'r-rr!" After dancing in front of the two performers for perhaps half a 
minute, the latter got up and moved with very high knee action, the Nurtunja 
being slowly bent down over the heads of the men who were in front. Then the 
dancers circled round the performers, shouting loudly, "wha! wha!" while the 

latter moved around with them Then once more the performers resumed 

the position in front of the other men, over whose heads the Nurtunja was again 
bent down, and then two or three of the men laid their hands on the shoulders of 
the performers, and the ceremony came to an end. The Nurtunja was laid on 
one side, and the performers, taking each a little bit of down from it, pressed this 
in turn against the stomach of each of the older men who were present. The idea 
of placing hands upon the performers is that thereby their movements are stopped, 
whilst the meaning of the down being pressed against the stomachs of the older 
men is that they become so agitated with emotion, by witnessing the sacred 
ceremony, that their inward parts, that is, their bowels, which are regarded as the 
seat of the emotions, get tied up in knots, which are loosened by this appHcation of 
a part of the sacred Nurtunja. In some ceremonies the Nurtunja itself is pressed 

against the stomachs of the older men The whole performance only 

lasted about five minutes, while the preparation for it had occupied more than 
three hours. As soon as it was over the performers sat on the ground; the down 
was removed from their bodies and preserved for future use, and the Nurtunja 
was dismantled, the hair being carefully unwound and returned to its respective 
owners. 57 

The Australian is passionately fond of singing and indulges in it on 
all occasions, when happy, when sorrowful, when angry, when pacified, 
when full, when hungry, and when seated around his camp fire with his 
savage companions. 

The songs are short, containing generally only one or two ideas, and are 
constantly repeated over and over again, in a manner doubtless grating to the 
untutored ears of a European, but to one skilled in Australian music, lulling and 
harmonious in the extreme, and producing much the same effect as the singing of 
a nurse does upon a child. ^' 

Speaking of the songs of the coast tribes, Eyre says: 
Europeans, their property, presence, and habits, are frequently the subject 
of these songs, and as the natives possess great powers of mimicry, and are acute 



PLAYS OF SAVAGES 1 7 

in the observation of anything that appears to them absurd or ludicrous, the white 
man often becomes the object of their jests or quizzing. I have heard songs of this 
kind sung at the dances, in a kind of comic medley, where the different speakers 
take up parts during the breaks in the song, and where a sentence or two in 
English is aptly introduced, or a quotation made from some native dialect, other 
than that of the performers. It is usually conducted in the form of question and 
answer, and the respective speakers use the language of the persons they are 
supposed to represent. The chorus is, however, still the same repetition of one or 
two words. '^ 

Of musical instruments the Australians are nearly as destitute as are 
the Veddahs. In some tribes sticks or boomerangs are struck together to 
mark the time, sometimes the ground is struck with a spear or piece of 
wood; "in one particular ceremony two short and bluntly rounded pieces 
of wood are used, which as they fall on one another, each being held in one 
hand, produce a 'clunk, clunk,' which closely imitates, as it is supposed to do, 
the sound of the croaking of a particular frog, "s 6 A rudimentary trumpet 
is also spoken of, which consists of a branch of gum tree hollowed out by 
insects, and which is used by placing it to the mouth and intensifying the 
sound by singing through the cavity.s^ 

The play interest also finds expression in the ground-drawings and rock- 
paintings, many of which are connected with their sacred ceremonies, but 
not all. Spencer and Gillen say of them:s6 

Passing now to the geometrical designs, it may be noted that, so far as their 
form, and indeed, that of certain of the zo-omorfic and phytomorphic drawings is 
concerned, there is no distinction between them and certain of the drawings 
associated with ceremonial objects. They are dealt with separately because 
.... the latter have definite associations in regard to the totems, and have what 
the ordinary geometrical rock -drawings do not appear to have, a definite signifi- 
cance. By this we mean that the artist who drew them had no definite purpose 
in doing so. The natives, when asked the meaning of certain drawings such as 
these, will constantly answer that they are only play work and mean nothing. 

Thus in the dance, in music, and in his paintings, the Australian spells 
out his mental type in letters which he who runs may read. If anyone 
doubt the truth of the inscription, let him compare it with the following 
character sketch, also from Spencer and Gillen,56 our highest authorities 
on the Central Australian: 

When times are favorable, the black fellow is as light hearted as possible. He 
has not the slightest thought of, or care for, what the morrow may bring forth, and 
lives entirely in the present. At night dme, men, women and children glther 
round the common camp fires, talking and singing their monotonous chants, 



1 8 PLAY ACTIVITIES OF ADULT SAVAGES AND CHILDREN 

hour after hour, until one after the other, they drop out of the circle, going off to 
their different camps, and then at length all will be quiet, except for the occa- 
sional cry of a child, who, as not seldom happens, rolls over into the fire, and has 

to be comforted or scolded into silence There is however .... an 

undercurrent of anxious feeling .... always lying dormant and ready to be 
called up by any strange or suspicious sound, if he be alone, especially at night 
time, in the bush, but on the other hand, just like a child he can, with ease, for- 
get anything unpleasant, and enter perfectly into the enjoyment of the present 
moment. 

SUMMARY 

1. Somatic type. — The somatic type of the play characteristics of the 
Australian is activity of the whole body, as seen in the dance and in the 
trials of strength. 

2. Organization. — The type of organization, or the objective character- 
istics are: 

(a) Individual play; for example, in cat's-cradle or string games, and in 
certain of the dances. 

(6) The undefined group, as shown in most of the dances and in the 
trials of strength. 

3. Psychological type. — The psychological or subjective characteristics 
are: 

(a) Rhythm, shown in the beating of sticks, slapping with the hand, 
striking together of boomerangs, beating the ground with spears or wood, 
in the "high-stepping" dance, in singing, in repetition of words. 

(&) Spontaneity, as shown in the whale dance, and individual songs. 

(c) Mimicry of animals and men, including almost every animal or 
stranger known to them. 

{d) Dramatization of events relating both to their daily life and to their 
totemic ancestors. 

(e) The element of magic — a belief that these dramatic representations 
will result in benefit to themselves or be pleasing to their totemic ancestors. 

(/) Competition or rivalry, as appearing in their trials of strength, and 
in the dancing matches between tribes. 

{g) Humor, burlesque, and a love for the grotesque. 

Qi) Repetition. 

THIRD GROUP 

With regard to the play activities of the Bushmen, we are even better 
informed than in the case of the two preceding tribes. Stow writes:^^ 



PLAYS OF SAVAGES 1 9 

At one time .... the Bushmen had many games, in which they indulged 
in their leisure hours, to diversify the dance There are still enough 

_ , rescued from oblivion to show that they might be divided into 

Bushmen , , r , • 1 1 <• „ • u • -n 

three classes, of which the followmg may be given as illus- 
trative specimens: 

I. The "Nadro," or disguise. They appear to have had an almost passionate 
fondness for dressing themselves up in masquerading fashion, in the guise of some 
animal or other, so that it was not only in hunting and war that they simulated the 
wild animals, by which they were surrounded, but even in their amusements, 
their games, and dances. 

One of ... . the most popular [jilays] was that in which the older women 
of the horde indulged, and which was specially called ''Nadro." They disguised 
themselves by fastening the head and horns of some wild animal upon their owa, 
and so painting and enveloping the rest of their body in the hide of the beast, that 
they looked more like some wild or supernatural monster than a human being. 
.... This particular disguise was generally adopted in the evening, when one 
so dressed and carrying a small stick with which to make a rattling noise, would 
suddenly and unexpectedly come upon the assembled group of the horde, which 
always had the effect of startling the younger people, while even the old members 
would in the first impulse of the moment get out of the way of the rather unearthly 
looking apparition with no small degree of trepidation. As the alarm subsided, 
it was succeeded by bursts of merriment at the consternation and confusion which 
had been occasioned. They also disguised themselves in the same manner in 
some of their grand masquerade dances, when each impersonated some different 
animal and acted his or her part accordingly. The Australians and Eskimos 
also have plays similar to this. 

II. Other games were such as required both skill and presence of mind, and 
were generally, if not exclusively, manly games. One of these might be termed 

the training game, although only experts would dare to join in it Two 

Bushmen, each with a certain number of arrows, would take up a standing, sitting, 
or lying position opposite to one another, and then at a given signal let fly at one 
another, one after the other, with as great rapidity as possible, each vsdth equal 
rapidity trying to avoid the shafts of his opponent. Sometimes the arrows were 
arranged in a row before them, or as worn in war or hunting, in a fillet bound 
round the head. The younger and more inexperienced were matched one against 
the other, whilst the oldest and most proficient members of the tribe would try 
their skill upon one another. When we consider that this game was played, not 
like some modem tournaments with half-severed and mock lances, but with 
genuine poisoned arrows, we may form some idea of the peril which accom- 
panied it. 

III. A third class of games also showed skill, but in these it was accompanied 

with a certain amount of legerdemain One of these became so universally 

popular that it has been adopted and perpetuated among other tribes, by whom it 
is known as Bushman cards. 



20 PLAY ACTIVITIES OF ADULT SAVAGES AND CHILDREN 

The following is a description of it as played by the Basutus: 

Two or three people sit side by side or opposite each other, one of them picks 
up a stone or small piece of wood, all move their arms about in an excited manner, 
the one with the small piece of wood passing it with as much rapidity as possible 
from one hand to the other, so as to bewilder the other players, and then presents 
his clenched hands to his companions to guess where the wood is. If the guesser 
is mistaken the holder of the wood exclaims triumphantly, "Ua ya incha, kia ya 
khomo," in a kind of song or cadence, meaning, "You eat the dog, I eat the beef." 
In the opposite case, the player declares himself vanquished, when the guesser 
touches the hand containing the wood, saying "Kia ya incha, ua ya khomo," 
"I eat the dog, you eat the beef," and delivers the wood to his companion to do 
the same. The players will sometimes keep up the game for hours at their even- 
ing fires. The Bushmen also had a great number of imitative dances. 

.... Miss Lucy C. Lloyd has given the following description of a game 
of skill played with a kind of shutdecock, i.e., with a short stick with two or three 
feathers tied to its upper end and weighted at its lower extremity by a berry or a 
button attached to it. This is thrown into the air and beaten vidth another stick 

to keep it up Miss Lloyd's Bushman authorities assured her that this is 

one of the old games played by members of their own tribe in their own land. 
This discovery is an interesting one as tending to prove that this popular game 
of English children is probably one (by being thus known to so primitive a race 
as the Bushmen) of high antiquity 

Some of their dances required considerable skill, such as that which may be 
called the ball-dance. In this a number of women, from five to ten, would form 
a line and face an equal number in another row, leaving a space of thirty or 
forty feet between them. A woman at the end of one of these lines would com- 
mence by throwing a round ball about the size of an orange, and made of a root, 
under her right leg and across to the woman opposite to her, who in turn would 
catch the ball and throw it back in a similar manner to the second woman in the 
first row; she would return it in a similar manner to the second in the second row, 
and thus it continued until all had taken their turn. Then the women would 
shift their positions crossing over to the other sides, and again continue in the 

same manner as before 

Another ball-dance was played merely by the men. The ball was made 
expressly for this game out of the thickest portion of a hippopotamus' hide, cut 
from the back of the neck; this was hammered when it was perfectly fresh until 
it was quite round; when finished it was elastic, and would quickly rebound 
when thrown upon a hard surface. In this performance, a flat stone was placed 
in the center upon the ground, the players or dancers standing around. One of 
them commenced by throwing the ball on the stone, when it rebounded; the next 
to him caught it, and immediately it was thrown again by him upon the stone in 
the same manner as by the leader, when it was caught by the next in succession 
and so on, one after the other, passing rapidly round the ring, until the leader or 
one of the others would throw it with such force as to send it flying high and straight 



PLAYS OF SAVAGES 21 

up into the air, when during its ascent they commenced a series of antics, throwing 
themselves into all kinds of positions, imitating wild dogs, and like them making 
a noise "che! che! che!" but in the meantime watching the ball, which was 
caught by one of them when he took the place of the leader, and the game was 

again renewed 

The play was sometimes varied by two players being matched against each 
other, each throwing and catching the ball alternately, until one of them missed it, 
when it was immediately caught by one of those in the outer ring, who at once took 
the place of the one who had made the slip, and thus the play continued. 

With respect to other amusements of the Bushmen, we find the follow- 
ing: 

We have already seen the fondness of the Bushmen for disguising themselves 
in masquerading dresses, representing various animals, birds, and imaginary 

monsters Beyond this, however, their powers of mimcry were wonderfully 

striking, and thus they were able not only to assume the appearance, but the action, 
manner, and cries of the animal they wished to personify, with extraordinary 
accuracy. It was this talent which enabled them to give such variety to their 
dances, an amusement of which they were passionately fond and in which they 
indulged on every fitting occasion. The universality of the custom was shown 
from the fact that, in the early days in the center of every village or kraal, or near 
every rock shelter, and in every great cave, there was a large circular ring where 
either the ground or grass was beaten flat and bare, from the frequent and oft 
repeated terpsichorean exercises, so 

They had also a great variety of dances in which they indulged at new 
moon and full moon and at the approach of the first thunderstorm. There 
were dances for men alone, for women alone, for men and women together. 
There was the hunter's dance, the chain dance, the baboon dance, frog 
dance, bee dance, the dance of the chief, the dance of blood, and a grand 
national masquerade in which all the participants represented different 
birds and animals, and painted their bodies to help out the scenic effect. 
With these dances were musical accompaniments, music and words being 
fitted to the particular dance. The Bushmen also evolutionized their hunt- 
ing bows into a musical instrument, the remote ancestor, possibly, of the 
modern harp, adding one string after another and then a shell or gourd 
as a resonator, until it served as a fit accompaniment for their many songs 
and dances. Wallaschek quotes Burchell as saying that mere words are 
insufficient to describe the beauty of these songs and dances. They must 
be heard, they must be participated in. From these dances he derived as 
much pleasure as did the natives, " so quiet and orderly were they, no 
rude laughter, no noisy shouting, no coarse, ribald wit was there. Through- 
out it was a modest sociable amusement Music softened all their 



22 PLAY ACTIVITIES OF ADULT SAVAGES AND CHILDREN 

passions, and thus they lulled themselves into that mild and tranquil state 
in which no evil thoughts approach the mind. The soft and delicate voices 
of the girls, instinctively accordant to those of the women and men, the 
gentle clapping of the hands, the rattles of the dancers, and the mellow 
sound of the water drum, all harmoniously attuned and keeping time 
together, the peaceful, happy countenances of the party, and the cheerful 
light of the fire, were circumstances so combined and fitted to produce the 
most soothing effects on the senses, that I acted as if the hut had been my 
home and felt as if I had been one of them." ^^ 

SUMMARY 

1. Somatic type. — The somatic characteristics of the Bushman's play 
is activity of the whole body as shown in their gymnastic dances and nearly 
every one of the amusements of which we have any account. 

2. Organization. — The type of organization or objective phase is: 
{a) Individual play, for example, mimicry of animals. 

{b) The undefined group, as in most of the dances and games. 

{c) The pair, as in Bushman's cards. 

{d) The double group as in the arrow contest. 

3. Psychological type. — The psychological or subjective characteristics 
are: 

(a) Rhythm. 
{h) Mimicry of animals, 
(c) Dramatization of events. 
{d) Belief in magic. 

(e) Humor, burlesque, and love of the grotesque. 
(/) Real games as distinguished from mere play. 
{g) Games of skill and competition. 
Qi) One guessing game. 

{i) Since they have an extensive mythology, we may be sure that story- 
telling was one of their pastimes. 
{j) Repetition. 

FOURTH GROUP 

The three tribes thus far studied are representatives of the Old 

World. We turn next to the New World to learn the characteristic 

^ , plays of the Yahgans and Eskimos. Of the former, 

langans 

ritzroy says:*" 

Swimming is a favorite amusement of the Fuegians during summer 

Men, women and children are excellent swimmers, but they all swim like dogs. 



PLAYS OF SAVAGES 23 

Swinging between branches of trees as our children do is also a favorite 
pastime^ the ropes being made of strips of sealskin. 

Grosse speaks of the dramatic efforts of the Fuegians," some of which, 
he says, may be mimetic dances. Like the Veddahs, too, they also dance 
as an expression of good will and gratitude for a favor rendered them, as 
well as when asking for gifts. 

Hyades and Deniker^^ state that sports are especially practiced during 
visits between different groups of Fuegians. After the visit is decided, at ' 
least six boatloads of Indians depart together, carrying about forty of the 
inhabitants who may volunteer for that purpose. Arrived at the end of 
their voyage, the men disembark, their faces painted, the forehead bound 
with a fillet of plumes. They advance toward the huts of their friends, 
holding their harpoons in their hands. The Fuegians visited hasten to meet 
the newcomers. One or two of the more elderly men advance to arrange 
with the newcomers for lodgment, etc. Greetings are exchanged and the 
edible berries are passed around. 

They next propose to give themselves up to the wrestling plays which 
are always very much in favor. The play called "ka-la-ka" takes place 
between two natives placed in the center of spectators, who without mixing 
themselves in the action follow the game with the greatest interest. The 
players struggle, each seeking to raise his adversary and throw him to the 
ground. It is a spectacle which inflames the Fuegians who are always 
prepared thus to try the strength of their visitors. Sometimes the players 
become so excited and the maneuvers so brutal that fatal consequences result. 

Another play is executed by two ranks of natives holding one another 
by the neck, and marching toward one another as they sing. At the 
moment when they come together the players lower the head, trying with 
all their might to break the line of their adversaries. When one of the lines 
is broken the gaiety is at its height by reason of the confusion produced 
among the players. 

Ball is played with a ball made from the membrane of the foot of the 
gull. The players form a circle and throw the ball from one to the other. 

They also take great pleasure in counterfeiting the cries of animals or 
in inventing burlesque scenes which occasion among the spectators explo- 
sions of laughter. " Quels que soient les jeux usites les Fuegiens y apportent 
un tres vif interet; ils en parlent beaucoup le soir dans les huttes " 

It is extremely unfortunate that the songs of the Yahgans have not been 
preserved, but that they had many, there can be no doubt. There w^ere 
songs of vengeance, and songs of mourning, medicine songs and songs for 
amusement. There were songs to the west wind, the north sky, the kelp 



24 PLAY ACTIVITIKS OK ADUI/F SAVAGES AND ClIILDRKN 

j];oosc, the l()}i;j;crlic:ul duck, :ind to many other of their famiMiar birds. 
They also enjoyed hearinj^ Juiropean music, and sometimes joined in (he 
songs of the sailors.''' 

Nearly every traveler who visited the home of the Yahj^ans, in the days 
which preceded civilization, speaks of tlieir fondness for mimicry. The 
foUowinf^ from Darwin is typical: 

Tlicy are cxcclk-nl mimics. As often as wc coughed or yawned, or made any 
odd motion, dicy imiiudiatcly imitated us. Some of our party began to squint 
and look angry; but oni- of the young Kucgians (whose whole face was painted 
black, excepting a white band acro.ss his eyes) succeeded in making far more 
hideous grimaces. They could repeat, with perfect correctness, each word in any 
sentence we addressed them, and they remembered such words for some time. 
Yet we iMiropeans all know how dillkult it is to distinguish apart the sounds in a 
foreign language. Which of us, for instance, could follow an American Indian 
through a sentence of more than three words? .... The Australians likewise 
.... imitate the gait of any man, .so that he can be recognized.'-' 

Of the more intellectual i)leasures of the Yahgans, Spears, who, however, 
is a superCicial observer, writes: 

The missionaries .say that within the limits of their knowledge, they were 
ready and logical thinkers. Sarcastic remarks and cynical observations aboiuided 

in tlieir fireside (C)nver.sations, as well as flashes of humor lie delighted in 

w]\at civilized people call the higher ])leasures, the joys of good stories, witty 
sayings, (|ui( k rei)artee, and he had almost unlimited opportunity for cultivating 
the faculties which gave him greatest pleasure. •'>•'> 

Evidently, however, they pursue these worthy pleasures in a manner 
characteristically their i)wn, for Snow writes of them: 

They are loud and furious talkere, and 1 soon found it was impossible to get 
myself listened to in any ordinary way. Accordingly, on one particular occasion 
when their noise was deafening, I took my speaking trumj)et, and shouted louder 
than (hey. This answered. Tt made them delighted with my su])]X)se(l skill, 
ami it showed them Uiat Uie white man could be equal to themselves *♦ 

SUMMARY 

1. Somatii type. — 'i'he somatic characteristic of the Yahgan play is 
activity of the whole body, for example, in swimming, swinging, and 
dancing, in the fighting plays, and in ball games. 

2. Orf^anization. — The types of organization or objective character- 
istics are: 

{a) Individual play. 

{b) Play in pairs. 

(r) The double or matched group. 



PLAYS OF SAVAGES 



25 



3. Psychological type— The psychological or subjective characteristics 
are: 

(a) Rhythm. 

(b) Mimicry. 

{c) Dramatization of events. 

(d) Humor, burlescjue, and sarcasm. 

{e) Games as distinguished from mere play. 

(/) Games of skill and competition, as shown in the ball games. 

{g) Games of conquest, for example, the wrestling matches. 

{h) Story-telling. 

(i) Repetition. 



FIFTH GROUP 

We come last of all to the Eskimos. And here we discovered such a 
fund of information of undoubted authenticity that it seemed necessary 
Eskimos ^^ ^'^^^^ '^ '^^ ^^^ somewhat more graphic method of the 

chart. We accordingly arranged a list of two hundred and 
fifty-five amusements of various kinds, practiced by adult Eskimos, exclud- 
ing all those played by children only. Wherever the same play is men- 
tioned more than once, it was entered on the chart more than once, pro- 
Explanation ^^"^^'^^ ^* ^^^ mentioned by different authors, or by the same 
of Cliari author as having been witnessed in different localities. The 

justification for this repetition is found in the belief of the 
writer that the mere fact of one game being observed more frequently than 
another implies that it is a favorite game, and therefore that it contains 
just those characteri.stics which indicate most clearly the mental type of the 
people who are attracted by them. 

In the first column of the chart the reference to the book or article in 
which the play is mentioned or described was recorded. The second 
column gave the name of the author quoted, the third named the locality 
where the play was observed, and the fourth gave a list of the plays. Then 
followed an analysis of each of the plays, in which their most pronounced 
characteristics were indicated by crosses placed on the same horizontal line, 
under the rubric corresponding to that particular characteristic. These 
elements, which, combined, determine the peculiarities of the play impulse, 
were then grouped under three general headings: (j) Somatic Character- 
istics, (2) Type of Organization or Objective Characteristics, (3) Psycho- 
logical Type, or Subjective Characteristics. 



26 PLAY ACTIVITIES OF ADULT SAVAGES AND CHILDREN 

By Somatic Characteristics (columns v-ix) it was intended to indicate 
whether the play brings into activity the muscles of the whole body, or only 
parts of it, and whether the activity is of the more violent 
^ ' .. type, for example, the "tug of war," which indicates that 

the muscular activity itself is the chief source of enjoyment 
in the play; or whether the more quiet type of exercise predominates, which 
usually indicates one of two things, namely, either that the play is of the 
extremely childish type which goes with undeveloped muscles, not yet 
strong enough to bear violent exercise, or else that the muscular exercise is 
furnishing only a part of the pleasure, while perceptual or imaginative or 
constructive activity furnishes the other part. Making faces, and such games 
as tops and "buzz," would be examples of the first kind; the dramatic 
plays and the singing and dancing, performed for the entertainment of an 
audience, illustrate the second. 

In column vi, those plays involving parts of the body, rather than the 
whole, were grouped, as representing a somewhat more specialized type 
of play, but an analysis of the group shows that some of these really belong 
to the whole body group, inasmuch as the muscles of the entire body are 
tense and co-operative throughout the play, even though the chief activity 
may be located in the limbs. Take, for instance, the arm-pulling, pulling 
of arms and legs together, striking an opponent upon the back until he can 
endure the blows no longer, foot-pulling, stick-lifting (while another tries to 
hold it down), kyak racing, umiak racing — none of these have as an end 
the accomplishment of any delicate muscular work, or the securing of the 
fine adjustment of the arm or other muscles. A second division of the 
plays of column vi represents plays the specific purpose of which is the 
sensory effect. The "buzz," top, singing, etc., are representatives of this 
class. These and the dice games will be discussed elsewhere. But there 
is another subdivision of this group which does interest us just here. It 
includes the following games: juggling games, in which three or more 
pebbles are tossed one after the other, one being caught and tossed again, 
while the others are still in the air; another game in which the ball is 
thrown to the ground by the right hand, caught in the left, thrown with the 
left, and caught in the right, etc.; still another in which the ball is thrown 
with one foot to the other; shooting at a mark; throwing spears at a mark; 
a game similar to cup-and-ball, in which a piece of ivory, or more often the 
skull of some animal, is tossed and caught in some of its perforations upon a 
point of wood or ivory; drumming, which belongs to both the sensory and 
muscular group; a dart game in which the object is to pierce with a dart a 
perforation made in a piece of ivory, suspended from the top of the iglu; 



PLAYS OF SAVAGES 27 

violin (introduced by the whites and mentioned but once) ; a fish game, in 
which an ivory fish with a hole in one end is caught by a hook; a second 
dart game, in which the arrow-shaped dart is caught in the meshes of a net; 
carvings in bone, ivory, and wood; a throwing game in which the attempt 
is made to toss rings of grass so deftly that they will be made to fall upon 
and encircle a stake placed upright in the ground and at some distance from 
the thrower; tossing sticks so as to make them stand upright in the center of 
a spool-shaped block of wood; jackstraws and jackstones, both probably 
introduced. In all of these we have a type of muscular activity which does 
not properly belong to the soma as a whole, but to a specialized part of it. 
With these, success in the game depends upon delicate co-ordination of the 
muscles of the Jiand and arm — a careful measuring of the amount of force 
to be expended, so as to make it exactly correspond to the distance to be 
covered. Here then, we have an advance upon the Veddah and Australian 
type of play, which at least suggests the possibility that Eskimos possess a 
more finely organized nervous system, and muscular machinery under 
better control than is the case with Veddahs and Australians (see p. 11). 
The same conclusion with respect to superiority of development is again 
suggested in the fact that with the Eskimos, both in plays requiring vio- 
lent exercise and in the "quiet plays" there is a far greater range of play 
activities, both in kind and number, than in the other groups studied. 
The following list, for example, of "parlor games" is no mean heritage for 
the social life of a savage, hunting people, living in a region so desolate and 
cold and unproductive that it is comparatively exempt from the incur- 
sions and outrages of so-called civilized peoples: "buzz," dice games, 
story-telling, cup-and-ball, dominoes (introduced by whites), singing, 
carving in bone, wood, and ivory, the roulette gambling games, mimicry, 
making faces, dancing, cat's-cradle, checkers (introduced by whites and 
mentioned but once or twice), ball- juggling, tops, dramatic recitations — 
these are some of the devices by which the savage host and his guests 
while away the long hours of the polar night. 

By "Organization," (columns x-xviii), was meant the tendency to con- 
ventionalize a favorite amusement and to crystallize it into permanent 
form, which, in time, becomes "organized," i.e., has fixed 
second j-^j^g j.^ which the players conform. It has then become a 

Rubric "game" as distinguished from mere "play," and sometimes 

becomes a game of so great complexity that only an expert 
can get the greatest amount of pleasure from it. The most notable example 
of such a highly organized play of the somatic type is found, perhaps, in the 
American national game of baseball, the description of which in the Young 



28 PLAY ACTIVITIES OF ADULT SAVAGES AND CHILDREN 

People's Cyclopedia of Games and S ports'^ ^ occupies twenty and one-half 
pages, including an enumeration of fifty-three rules governing the conduct 
of the game. Chess, with twenty-two rules and elaborate explanations, 
might represent the more psychological type of highly organized game. 

We speak of civilized nations and societies as being "highly organized," 
and they undoubtedly are; but if extreme organization in general is a 
characteristic of advanced civilization, little or simple organization might 
naturally be expected as a characteristic of slightly civilized societies, and 
this is also apparently true. 

But we are also told that play is a reflection of the instinctive, traditional, 
and conventional activities of a people, and we may assume, probably, 
without fear of the statement being challenged, that the people living the 
more complex life will have a more highly developed repertoire of amuse- 
ments. It seems likewise probable that the unorganized form of play, 
without rules, is more primitive and elementary in type than the organized 
and conventionalized and regulated form of games. Now if the above 
statements be true, we may find in a comparison of the simpler and more 
complex forms, and in the types of organization of play activities which 
represent the spontaneous and voluntary reactions of the participants, a basis 
of comparison with respect to the psychical development of our fivefold group; 
and likewise a similar basis with respect to phylogenetic and ontogenetic 
comparison. 

We must not assume, however, that because primitive forms of play are 
retained in use, the people who play them are therefore necessarily primitive. 
Among savage and civilized peoples alike it will always be desirable to have 
at command games simple enough for all to enjoy who may happen to be 
in the company, if the company be a heterogeneous one. Only the selected 
group will care for the highly specialized games. For this reason the 
primitive games will always be retained, even in the highly civilized coun- 
tries. As a matter of fact, what we really find is that a highly civilized 
people has ten or perhaps a hundred simple games where a savage race has 
but one. What may be assumed, however, with certainty, as we believe, is, 
that if among any given people there are only extremely simple plays, of the 
cat's-cradle or roulette type, for example, it is because there are only simple- 
minded players, or at least but few of any other kind. On the other hand, 
if, in addition to these plays, there are others of a complex type, it is because 
some of the people have sufficient intellectual capacity to enjoy them. The 
plays that are left after the childish plays have been excluded — they are the 
ones which will have a story to tell us concerning the people whose tastes 
they represent. Upon the evidence which they furnish and upon the relation 



PLAYS OF SAVAGES 29 

» 

which they hear to the former group, we may, perhaps, base some ultimate 
conclusions regarding psychical development. 

It is with this analyzing and sifting process in mind, then, that the 
term "Type of Organization" was made a second rubric on our chart of 
Eskimo play, while under it were included several subdivisions, whose 
function was to represent the various degrees of difference, or variation 
in form, which this process of organization or differentiation may take on. 
These subdivisions are: 

1. "Individual Plays" (column xi), characterized by moderate motor 
activity, and little or perhaps no organization and no co-operation, cat's- 
cradle, for example, "buzz," and top, and the impromptu songs and dances. 
They are plays, rather than games. Some of them involve skill, as carving, 
drawing, and various feats with the kyak, and when highly developed may 
represent the highest art of any people; but with our primitive folk, these 
plays, whether they require skill or not, have either repetition and rhythm — 
a regulated form of repetition — or imitation, as predominant and very 
marked characteristics. All the dancing, singing, and drumming entertain- 
ments are very strongly characterized, both by repetition and rhythm. The 
"buzz," pebble-juggling, cup-and-ball, top, bull-roarer, hoop-rolling, tossing 
a ball into the air for the purpose of catching it, tossing a snowball from one 
foot to another, are almost purely repetitive. Carvings, drawings, mimicry, 
story-telling, pantomime, and cat's-cradle are imitative, and usually require 
more skill than the purely repetitive plays. 

2. The "Undefined Group" (column xiii), characterized by a slight 
degree of both organization and co-operation. A small sub-group under 
this rubric, with the heading, "One and a Group," indicating that one 
person is the chief actor, while the others take a secondary position, differed 
from the preceding group of "Individual Plays" only in the fact that in the 
latter case the individual has an admiring avidience, as, for example, in the 
drum songs and story-telling, the members of which sometimes join with 
him in responses of some sort. The elements of social feeling and co-opera- 
tion make it a slightly more advanced type than the first group, though it is 
still play, not games. Imitation is a very marked feature. This group 
might, perhaps, be called perceptual play. 

3. In the "Homogeneous" group, however, were placed such games as 
the following: tossing ball (from one to another), the dice games, shooting 
at a mark, foot-racing, spear-throwing, carrying weights, and other contests 
of strength, the roulette gambling games, the mock hunt, masquerades, 
cup-and-ball, leapfrog (introduced by whites), (toy) fishing, archery 
games, throwing contests, one or two ball games, blind-man's-buff, hide- 



30 PLAY ACTIVITIES OF ADULT SAVAGES AND CHILDREN 

and-seek, toss on a walrus skin, tag, spinning (on a block of ice). The 
games under "Double Pair" (column xii) differed from these only in 
limitation of numbers. They were finger tracking (in pairs), one ball 
game (for women), one game of tag. Repetition appears about as fre- 
quently in this group as in the previous one, but it is not now the repetition 
of one's own act, as with tops or making faces, or of one's own words and 
tones, as in singing, or of motions, as in the dance ; it is rather, speaking 
generally, a repetition of the act of some other person, who happened to 
start the game. Everyone playing does the same thing as the others, either 
simultaneously or successively. It is repetition a little more dissociated 
from self than is the case in the first group, while rhythm takes a very 
subordinate place. But the repetition here indicated is not mere repetition. 
Something else has come in to give to the play an additional zest. Each 
player not only tries to do, but to do as skilfully as possible, hence the term 
applied to such plays — "games of skill." The player consciously trains 
himself by repetition and effort to do better and better. In the first group 
the act itself was all-absorbing. Now the manner of doing it has become 
quite as much a matter of attention as the act itself. 

Moreover, in many of the games still another element appears, namely, 
the desire not only to do skilfully, but to measure one's strength with that 
of others in the group, and to do better than anyone else can do. That is, 
rivalry, which scarcely appeared at all in the previous group, now begins 
to be an important element in the play. Motor activity is also a character- 
istic of nearly every one of the games, and most are games, not mere unor- 
ganized play. It will be seen, also, that most are more complex than the 
characteristic "Individual Plays." 

4. Under the heading "Double Group" (column xiv), was placed a 
list of games — all games — in which organization is still more apparent. 
Two undefitied groups play against each other. This means that the 
players must not only abide by the rules of the game, but they must act 
together. Social feeling has developed into conscious co-operation. 
Various kinds of ball games seem to be typical of the group, being mentioned 
ten times. Three games of tug-of-war appear, one of them a religious 
game, in which the two sides struggle to determine what kind of season shall 
prevail; umiak racing; one ring game, in which two groups of players form 
rings by taking hold of hands, each group vying with the other in racing 
for a distant goal, meanwhile revolving about the center of its own circle ; 
chorus singing in two parts (belonging more properly to the homogeneous 
group); singing combats, in which two individuals are the chief actors but 
are supported by their friends. These complete the list. In most of 



PLAYS OF SAVAGES 3 1 

these the dominant characteristics are simultaneous repetition, rivalry or 
competition, and co-operation. 

In column xii, a new element of organization appeared, namely, limita- 
tion of numbers. Under "Pair," and "Double Pair," are found the follow- 
ing games: wrestling, finger tracking, arm tracking, tracking of both arms 
and legs, foot pushing, the greeting ordeals of striking, wrestling, and 
knife-testing, boxing, rope- jumping (in pairs), checkers (introduced), 
head-pushing, hurdle-racing, foot-pulling, neck-pulling, stick-lifting (while 
another tries to hold it down), tug-of-war (by two), cards (introduced by 
whites, and mentioned but once), battering-ram, two ball games, twin tag 
(two persons tied together race with two others). It will be noticed that in 
these games the element of imitation falls Jar into the background as a motive. 
Repetition of acts remains, but added to it is "accommodation," i.e., to a 
changing situation. Moreover, the games have an intensity which did not 
appear before. It is not enough now to 5Mr^a55 in skill ; the opponent must 
be crushed, conquered. 

5. Next was listed what we have called the " Organized Game," because 
it approached so closely in its characteristics to what is termed organization 
in human societies, that is, games in which there is not only co-operation but 
differentiation of parts. Two are found which in a simple way suggest this 
class — battering-ram, in which two men take upon their shoulders two other 
men, their muscles stiffened, so as to remain in a horizontal position, when 
the opposing pairs make repeated rushes at each other, until one pair suc- 
ceeds in knocking the other down. The second game is thus described: 

This game is played at any season by men and women divided into equal 
parties, which are subdivided into pairs. Then a designated player starts off, 
pursued by the others, the players on the opposite side trying to overtake and 
touch him before he can touch the mate he was given from his own party. This 
mate strives to get within reach of his companion, the opposite side, meanwhile, 
using every effort to interfere between the two by running after the first and 
hindering the latter. If the player succeeds in touching his mate before he is 
touched, he wins, and another pair of nmners come out from his side. If he is 
touched first by one of his opponents, he loses, and a pair of runners come out 
from among them and take his place.^^ 

It would seem, perhaps, that the various football games and hockey 
ought to come under this heading, but so far as we have been able to find 
from any of the descriptions given, these games, as played by the Eskimos, 
are simply two unorganized groups of unlimited numbers playing against 
each other without captains, and without rules, except of the simplest sort. 
That this is the method pursued is suggested, at least, by occasional remarks 
of the writers describing them, that "football is played by young men and 



32 



PLAY ACTIVITIES OF ADULT SAVAGES AND CHILDREN 



Characteristics of 
Individual Play 
(Column XI) 



children," or "men', women, and children engage in the football games," 
which could not be the case if the game were played with regulations and 
with limited numbers, as in the American game of organized football. 

A more condensed form of statement regarding the various character- 
istics of all the various groups described under "Type of Organization," 
might be expressed as follows: 

SUGGESTIVE SUMMARY 

Motor activity (moderate). 

Successive repetition of one's own act, i.e., 

imitation of self. 
Rhythm. 

Sensory effects the chief aim. 
No co-operation. 
Unorganized play, not games. 

Motor activity (marked). 

Successive repetition of another's act. 

Individual competition. 

Play subordinated to games. 

Imitation of self declining. 

Social feeling stronger, e.g., entertainment of 
groups in" play," as in singing. 

Rivalry the aim in "games." 

Self-training for skill. 

Slight organization and some co-operation. 

Effort. 

Greater complexity of type. 

Sensori-motor co-ordination for definite ends 
— a fixed problem in games, e.g., attain- 
ment of definite standard through definite 
means. 



2. Characteristics of 
Undefined Group 
(Column XIII) 



Characteristics of 
Double Group 
(Column XIV) 



Motor activity ( very marked). 

Simultaneous repetition. 

Social feeling developed into marked co-opera- 
tion. 

Stronger organization. 

Games, not play. 

Effort strong. 

Group, not individual competition the aim. 

Greater complexity of problem. 

Sensori-motor adjustment to a changing 
problem, i.e., "accommodation" for the 
sake of co-operation. 



PLAYS OF SAVAGES 



S3 



Motor activity (intense). 
Simultaneous repetition. 

4. Characteristics of \ ^^^^ ^^^^^'^ *^^" S^"^^^- 
Pair and Double Pair / ^""^ co-operation, but conquest the aim. 
(Column XII) J ^^^o^^ strenuous. 

Limitation of numbers. 
Strength and endurance tested. 
Adjustment to a changing situation. 

Great motor activity. 
Repetition less marked. 

5. Characteristics of \ Co-operation necessary. 
Organized Group / Games-no play. 
(Column XV) 1 ^^"'^^P competition the aim. 

Increased complexity in problem. 
Adjustment to constantly changing situation. 
Slight difjerentiation of parts. 

We might now expect to see the process of organization carried one 
step farther and to find games in whicli organized rather than homo- 
geneous groups play against each other, in which the parts are so much 
differentiated as to require limitation of numbers for each group, and in 
which the problem has become so complex so to necessitate a leader or 
captain or chief to direct the movements of the game. We should then 
have the typical "Team Game" (column xvi). But here we look in vain 
to find a single entry upon our chart. Does it mean that such power of 
organization is lacking on the part of the savage tribes ? (See p. 12.) 

In this study of the elements of organization, and in their relations to 
each other, we get glimpses of the genetic phases of play activities— various 
sequences in progression, which may be expressed, for example, as follows: 

I. (i) An individual unit; (2) a homogeneous group; (3) an organized 
group; (4) a more highly organized group; (5) division of labor. 

, II. (i) Sensory plays; (2) perceptual plays, i.e., sensation in relation; 
(3) judgment of concrete relations; (4) judgment of abstract relations. 

III. (i) Motor activity controlled by stimulus; (2) motor activity under 
voluntary control; (3) motor activity regulated and made conformable to 
activities of other members of the social group, i.e., under social control. 

IV. (i) Repetition of self-activity; (2) repetition regulated, i.e., rhythm; 
(3) repetition of another's activity, i.e., imitation; (4) repetition with 
adaptation, i.e., "accommodation"; (5) repetition subordinated to ''accom- 
modation.''^ 

V. (i) Action motivated by sensory pleasure; (2) action motivated by 



34 PLAY ACTIVITIES OF ADULT SAVAGES AND CHILDREN 

social appreciation; (3) action motivated by individual aggrandizement; 
(4) action motivated by aggrandizement of the group. 

VI. (i) Action isolated with reference to others; (2) action brought 
into relation to volition of others; (3) action for the purpose of excelling 
others; (4) action for the purpose of co-operating with others. 

With respect to somatic characteristics, we find activity extremely 
characteristic of every stage of development. 

Columns xvii and xviii served in a measure as a counter-study for 
columns x and xi, making as they did a very similar comparison from a 
slightly different point of view. In these two columns, all the unorganized 
plays were grouped together, and all the games were grouped together into 
columns by themselves, thus showing the relation, in numbers, of plays to 
games. They confirmed the results of the previous study, in showing that 
while the number of games was great as compared with the other tribes 
studied, the number of plays was much greater. The columns, then, 
which under the first two rubrics are thickly studded with crosses are those 
which indicate activity of the whole body, "Quiet" play, characterized 
by repetition and rhythm, i.e., singing, dancing, poetry, and drumming, 
"Individual" play, and play of the "Unorganized" type. 

It has become apparent, perhaps, from the discussion of the first and 
second rubrics, that the "Type of Organization" is only a mental type 
after all. Yet there are some characteristics in which the 
Third psychological elements are more apparent to the casual 

T, , . observer. Could we dissociate from each other the psycho-- 

logical elements in all the plays, and regroup them, putting 
each type in separate columns, we might get a graphic representation, perhaps, 
of the relative frequency with which each occurs, and, further, we should 
have added an important clue to the understanding of the psychology of 
these savage peoples. Such was the problem attempted under the third 
general rubric, "Psychological Characteristics" (columns xix-xxxi). 

Of repetition we have already spoken as entering in one form or another 
into almost every play. What other features appeal most strongly to these 
adult Eskimo minds? Mere stimulation of the senses, motor, auditory, 
visual, or tactual ? rhythm, dramatic imitation, the acquirement of skill, 
the love of the ludicrous, competition and rivalry, the fascinations of games 
of chance and of gambling, the supposed test of character furnished in the 
ordeal, the victories of courtship, the exercise of purely intellectual powers, 
the expression of religious tendencies ? 

Each of these suggestions was made the heading of a column, and under 
each heading, in most cases, several subheads served further to analyze the 



PLAYS OF SAVAGES 



35 



characteristics of the various plays, as well as to show the preferences of 
the players. Where several important elements entered into a play, as, 
for example, somatic activity, rhythm, and competition, an equal number 
of entries was made. Indeed, the number and variety of elements involved 
in the play — that is, its complexity — proved to be a fairly good indication 
of the higher or lower character of the type. 

The first thing which impressed one in looking at the chart was the 
tremendous emphasis which sensory efifects, motor, visual, auditory, or 
tactual, have in the play of the people. We find a fairly constant succession 
of crosses in all four of the columns. These results are, perhaps, not sur- 
prising, in view of the fact that sensory elements enter so largely into all 
play. But what may, perhaps, furnish an element of real surprise to one 
who has given no thought to the matter is that the effort to excel, the attain- 
ment of "skill," either in strength, endurance, ability, accuracy, imitation, 
memory, perception, or good-natured deception, has an equally prominent 
place (column xxiv). 

Attention has already been called to the fact that repetition, either of 
one's own act or of that of another, is an almost constant element in all 
amusements mentioned. 

"Rhythm" (column xx) and "Dramatization" (column xxi), were also 
largely represented, but probably not so generously as they deserve, inas- 
much as many authors say in a general way that the Eskimos are pas- 
sionately fond of burlesque, humor, singing, drumming, mimicry, or 
mimetic dances, without making a statement sufficiently definite to war- 
rant an entry on the chart. 

The column headed "Ludicrous Effects" (column xxiii), indicates that 
the Eskimos are certainly not wanting in an appreciation of pure fun. The 
plays include "insult songs," which, though they certainly can hardly be 
called "good-natured" fun, yet permit no trace of ill-nature to appear on 
the surface; comic figures carved in ivory; trials of strength with the purpose 
of showing the other fellow his inferiority; "stunts" such as walking in 
peculiar ways which others try to imitate; daring and amusing feats with 
the kyak; burlesque gymnastic performances; mimicry; comic songs, of 
which the Eskimos are said to be very fond; making faces, also a favorite 
sport; musk-ox hunts, in which the players dress themselves up in skins and 
then turn their dogs loose; masquerades in which they either so represent 
different animals, or else try to get a costume as grotesque as possible; 
ice-spinning, in which the booby of the party is placed on a block of ice 
and revolved as rapidly as possible, until he is overcome by dizziness ; string 
games, i.e., performances in making all sorts of animals and objects after 



36 PLAY ACTIVITIES OF ADULT SAVAGES AND CHILDREN 

the cat's-cradle method; good-natured "chaffing" in conversation; practi- 
cal jokes. 

As to "Gambling Games," except in Alaska and about Hudson Bay, 
where the Eskimos have come in contact with whites and Indians, neither 
the number nor variety is very great, but we are told that in some localities 
the Eskimos are passionately fond of them and will even gamble away 
the last article of clothing, in which case the winner usually gives back at 
least a part of the clothing with the advice to "play more and lose less next 
time." The introduced games, cards and dominoes, are mentioned two or 
three times, but the favorite gambling games are (i) of the roulette type, 
in which a cup of musk-ox horn, or some substitute for it, is revolved rapidly, 
the person to whom the handle points when it comes to rest winning the 
stake; or (2) of the dice type, in which bones of some animal are dropped, 
the position in which they lie when they come to rest determining who has 
the stake. 

At Hudson Bay a game similar to cup-and-ball is played as a gam- 
bling game. The skull of an animal is tossed and caught in certain 
definite positions upon a sharp point of wood or ivory. This seems to be a 
favorite play among nearly all of the Eskimos, but in some localities it has 
been developed into a rather complicated game of skill. 

The only other gambling game found, until we reach Alaska, is a thrust- 
ing game in which a piece of ivory with a hole in its center is suspended 
from the top of the iglu. The players vie with one another in trying to 
pierce the hole with a pointed piece of ivory or wood. 

Of the games described at Point Barrow, Alaska, Mr. Murdoch dis- 
tinctly states that the Eskimos have but one gambling game — a throwing 
contest. We have not found it mentioned by any other writer. At Bering 
Strait and vicinity, however, the following are named: throwing at a 
mark; a net and dart game — the one who succeeds in sending his dart so 
as to have it caught in the meshes of the net wins the stake; throwing 
darts at a spool-shaped body with a hole in the center; throwing grass 
rings over a stake; another dart game; two games similar to jackstraws 
and jackstones. The following will serve as a type of the dart games: 

This is played in the kashim by two or more persons, usually for a stake. 
The darts are small, short, and made of wood, largest at the point, and tapering 
backward toward the butt, in which is fastened a bird quill for guiding the dart 
in its flight. In the large end of the dart is fastened a sharp spike of bone, horn, 
or sometimes of ivory. The target is a small upright stick of some soft wood 
planted in the floor. This may be placed in the middle of the room and 
the players divided into two parties, seated on opposite sides of the target, 



PLAYS OF SAVAGES 37 

or it may be placed on one side of the room and the players seated together on the 
other. In the former case a man is appointed to return the darts to the throwers 
and to give each player a counter when a point is made. Each player has two 
darts which he throws one after the other, and a score is made when a dart remains 
sticking in the target. Ten small wooden counting sticks are placed on the 
floor by the target, and one of these is given for each score; the side gaining the 
most of these counters takes the prize, and the game begins again. 4 ' 

We have found no evidence that any of the gambling games have reli- 
gious associations, as is the case with those of the Indians, unless the 
"chance" element itself may be considered a religious idea of an elementary 
sort like that associated with the "ordeal." Some of them may have been 
borrowed from the Indians, however. 

A very interesting group of games is found under the heading "Ordeal" 
(column xxviii) — not large, but extremely significant. They are all games 
of contest, and the idea underlying all of them is, that whichever one wins 
in the struggle is not only the stronger but the better man. 

First on the list are the "singing combats" or "nith songs," and here we 
shall give the description as related by Rasmussen, describing the customs 
of the East Greenlanders, who are probably the most primitive in type of 
the Eskimo groups; 

Insult songs were the means the east coast Eskimos used to settle up all their 
diflferences. When two men had cause of enmity against each other, it was their 
mode of duel. All the grown-up people of the place were called together into one 
large house, and, in the presence of all those whose opinions were respected, each 
then attempted in song to lay bare his opponent's sore points. The injured man 
was, of course, always the challenger, and had the first right to speak. Before he 
began to sing at his opponent, he bound him carefully with tight bonds to the 
support of the house, and there he had to stand the whole evening, exposed to the 
mockery of the singers and the onlookers. His opponent was permitted to make 
use of every imaginable means of exciting him to anger; he was allowed to spit 
in his face, to fill his mouth with blubber, till he could not draw his breath, and, 
while flinging at him the most virulent abuse he could think of, was supposed to 
jump at him, and, with his forehead, strike him frightful "skull-breakers," wher- 
ever on his face he liked. These blows did not cease till the opponent's face was 
so swollen that "the cheeks were on a level with the forehead, and the eyes were 
closed." 

And while this was going on, the bound man must not, by word or look, betray 
that the singer's scorn or ill-treatment made the slightest impression on him. On 
the contrary, a superior smile must play upon his lips, and his face must express 
compassion for his opponent's unsuccessful attempts to excite him and make him 
give himself away. His day came when the wounds on his face were well. Then 
he could take his revenge. 



38 PLAY ACTIVITIES OF ADULT SAVAGES AND CHILDREN 

It was only specially strong and courageous men who could challenge each 
other to an insult duel of this description, which naturally demanded not only 
strength but unusual self-control. During the interval before a duel, men used to 
harden their foreheads as follows: The skull of a bearded seal would be bound 
fast to the post of the house, and the man would practice running his head against 
it, until the skin of his forehead was so hard that it no longer hurt him to do so. 
There were some who attained such dexterity that they could split the skull of a 
seal. Christian declared. '^'^ 

Among other tribes the ordeal was not always so severe as among this 
particular group. Sometimes both contests were held the same evening, 
the friends of each man being present to encourage and support him by 
their presence and sympathetic responses of word and song. Crantz thus 
describes the same custom among the West Greenlanders. 

The most remarkable circumstance is that they even decide their quarrels by 
a match of singing and dancing which they call the singing combat. If a Green- 
lander thinks himself aggrieved by another, he discovers no symptom of revengeful 
designs, anger, or vexation, but he composes a satirical poem, which he recites 
with singing and dancing, in the presence of his domestics, and particularly the 
female part of his family, till they know it by rote. He then, in the face of the 
whole coimtry, challenges his antagonist to a satirical duel. The latter appears at 
the appointed place and both parties enter their lists. The complainant begins 
to sing his satire, dancing to the beat of the drum, and cheered by the echoing 
"Amna ajah" of his partizans, who join in every line, while he repeats so many 
ludicrous stories of which his adversary is the subject, that the auditors cannot 
forbear laughing. When he has finished, the respondent steps forth, and retorts 
the accusation, amidst the plaudits of his party, by a similar string of lampoons. 
The accuser renews the assaults, and is again rebuffed, and this continues till 
one of the competitors is weary. He who has the last word wins the trial, and 
obtains thenceforward a reputable name. An opportunity is here offered of 
telling very plain and cutting truths, but there must be no mixture of rudeness or 
passion. The assembled spectators decide the victory and the parties are in the 

future the best of friends The drum-dances of the Greenlanders are, then, 

their Olympic Games, their Areopagus, their rostrum, their theater, their fair and 

their Forum This contest is seldom attended by any disorderly conduct, 

except that a man that is well seconded sometimes carries off a woman whom he 
wishes to marry. It serves a higher purpose than mere diversion. It is an 
excellent opportunity for putting immorality to the blush, and cherishing virtuous 
principles, for reminding debtors of the duty of repayment, for branding false- 
hood .... and most of all for overwhelming adultery with its merited con- 
tempt.9 

The next most interesting item on the list is the one named "Victory of 
Seasons." It is described by Boas (Bafl&n Land) as follows: 



PLAYS OF SAVAGES 39 

The crowd next divides itself into two parties, the ptarmigans (axigirn), those 
who were bom in the winter, and the ducks {aggirn), or the children of the sum- 
mer. A large rope of sealskin is stretched out. One party takes one end of it 
and tries with all its might to drag the opposite party over to its side. The others 
hold fast to the rope and try as hard to make groimd for themselves. If the 
ptarmigans give way, the summer has won the game and fine weather may be 
expected to prevail through the winter. This game is played at the winter 
festival and is symbolic, being a part of their religious rites.^ 

We have placed a game of blind-man's-bufif among the "Ordeal" 
games, though it does not rank with the others. In this the "blind man" 
strikes the person caught a heavy blow upon the cheek, when he becomes 
the "catcher," and does the same with the next person caught. It is an 
" Ordeal " game only in the sense of proving who can keep his temper. The 
typical "ordeal," however, is a trial of strength, either by wrestling, by box- 
ing, or by hook-and-crook. In one form or another, these games are spoken 
of as in vogue from Labrador to Alaska. In some places the victor has 
the right to kill his opponent, though this is probably seldom done, except 
where some old feud exists. 

"Courtship Plays" (column xxix) are mentioned but twice, in one case 
the "singing combat," already described, in the other a wrestling contest, 
the outcome of the contest being that the victorious suitor takes possession 
of the bride. 

"Religious Plays" (column xxxi) are represented by the ventriloquial 
and legerdemain practices of the angekok or shaman, by the tug-of-war 
contests, which typify the victory of the seasons, by the chorus songs 
(in Alaska) used in the religious festivals; and we might have added — 
what does not appear on the chart — the festivals to the dead, to which the 
spirits of the dead are invited and entertained by songs, dancing, singing, 
feasting, etc. 

One group still remains to be spoken of, namely, "Intellectual Plays" 
(column xxx). Map-drawing and checkers are spoken of a few times, but 
probably have been taught by the whites in every case. Besides these, 
very simple traditional and original songs, story -telling, carvings in wood 
bone, and ivory, and the highly developed inventive and imitative string 
figures of the cat's-cradle type — these are all that can be named of a more 
intellectual sort than the games of skill already described, and these, it will 
be noted, are plays, not games. 

It is an almost pathetic fact, however, that about the only thing "owned," 
among these savage Eskimos, aside from their weapons and clothes, is the 
"original song." Although it is expected as a matter of course that the 



40 PLAY ACTIVITIES OF ADULT SAVAGES AND CHILDREN 

hunter will share with his neighbor the last mouthful of the game he has 
brought down, without expecting thanks, he who invents a new song is 
looked upon as a benefactor, deserving of the thanks of all. He is the true 
philanthropist — "the giver."'** 

One general observation upon the Eskimo chart is of great interest. 
The East Greenlanders are supposed to be the most primitive of the Eskimo 
tribes, the Eskimos of Alaska the most cultured. All of them unless it be 
the East Greenland group, concerning which we have found no statement 
regarding this particular point, give evidence both in their features and in 
their mythology of having some time been in contact with the Indians, a 
more highly developed people than the Eskimos. All of the native gam- 
bling games may have been borrowed from the Indians, as cards, checkers, 
and dominoes certainly have been from the whites. But the influence of 
both whites and Indians upon the Eskimos of Western Alaska, where there 
has been not only contact but intermarriage, has been very great, and here 
we find that the games take on a considerably more complex type, so much 
so as to form a marked contrast to those of the eastern Eskimos or even to 
those of Point Barrow. Here again we have another indication that com- 
plexity of games is an indication or rather an accompaniment of complexity 
of culture. As an illustration of this fact, we may note that most of the 
"Double Group" plays are found either in civilized Danish Greenland or 
in Alaska. The two games which have been placed in the "Organized" 
column are both from Alaska. "Group Competition" is much more evi- 
dent in Alaska than in any other place. "Gambling Games" are more 
frequent in Alaska and the Hudson Bay territory which has been so 
frequently visited by fishing fleets and fur traders. The "Religious 
Games" are much more highly developed in Alaska, and many customs 
appear here as, for example, finger masks, and organized group dances, 
which are entirely unknown among the Eskimos outside of Alaska. More 
elaboration is also found in chorus singing, mimetic dances, and festivals, 
and especially is this true of carvings. 

CONCLUSION 

Comparing, now, the results of the study of Eskimo play with that of the 
other four groups, we reach the following conclusions: 

Somatic characteristics. — Play involving both the general and specialized 
use of muscles has a much larger place in the life of the Eskimo, both in 

- ,. amount and variety, than with any of the other groups 

Comparative ,. , . , , ., , . . ■, -^ ■, . ^. 

studied, with the possible exception of the Bushmen, indi- 
cating, as we believe, a higher and more complex type of physical and mental 
development on the part of the Eskimos. 



PLAYS OF SAVAGES 4I 

Organization. — (i) In the organization of their plays, the Eskimos 
have more "individual" plays than any of the other groups, but they also 
have the more complex games belonging to the homogeneous group, both 
single and double. They also have simple games of the organized type, 
which the others do not appear to have. 

(2) In all five groups, unorganized play predominates over organized 
games. 

Psychological characteristics. — (i) In all five tribes the sensory elements 
are very marked characteristics of the play. 

(2) Rhythm is also a marked characteristic. 

(3) In all the tribes except the Veddahs perception is very strongly 
developed, as shown in all the mimetic and dramatic entertainments. With 
the Veddahs the only perceptual play of which we have any account is the 
arrow dance, which we have assumed to be mimetic. 

(4) The typical "games of skill" seem to be entirely lacking among the 
adult Veddahs, are almost wholly so among the Central Australians, were 
somewhat developed among the Yahgans, more so among the Bushmen, 
and are comparatively well developed among the Eskimos.* 

(5) Games of skill are really games of judgment based upon concrete 
conditions; hence, the comparison made under (4) with respect to games 
would hold also with respect to the "practical judgment," so far as it relates 
to play. < 

(6) Games of judgment based upon abstract conditions find their highest 
representatives in courtship games, the ordeals, and religious games. It 
will be noticed that with these people, the last-named games are not mere 
play, they are real and serious attempts to reason out the ways and means 
of meeting real and serious situations, and the same may originally have been 
true of the gambling games. 

* It must not be forgotten that we have much more accurate knowledge of the 
Eskimos than we have of the other tribes, yet with respect to general tendencies we 
believe the results here reached are substantially correct. 



Ill 

ANALYSIS OF PLAYS OF CIVILIZED CHILDREN 

We have next to consider the play of civilized children, and in order 

to get the study upon a basis which will allow of legitimate comparison 

with that of savages, the same graphic method of analysis 

of individual games was adopted, and the same rubrics used 

throughout except in case of a few minor subdivisions where the former 

headings did not at all apply to modern games. 

Chart II, while by no means covering the whole range of children's 
play activities, is believed to be happily representative. Mr. Chase's study* 
was based chiefly upon personal observation of the children themselves, 
while at play in the streets of New York City. It does not include house 
games. Mr. Culin's admirable study ^ upon games of Brooklyn children 
is also based upon personal observation (with the exception of the Phila- 
delphia gangs) aided by the personal observation and experience of a ten- 
year-old boy friend. Naturally the emphasis is thrown upon hoys^ games, 
excluding, as it does, house games and all those played by girls alone. 

Mr. Babcock's study on "Games of Washington Children"^ seems to 
place more emphasis upon girls' play and that of young children, inasmuch 
as the various ball games and contests of strength, which are much more 
popular with older boys, are treated with great brevity, while the ring 
games have great prominence. House games are also excluded, for the 
most part. 

Mr. McGhee's study, 34 on the other hand, gives a great number of 
"parlor games," as well as of outdoor plays, thus including the typical 
"girls' games," while Mr. Crosswell's study'° (a portion only of which is 
here used) names the favorite games of boys and of girls, and includes both 
house and outdoor sports. It seems, therefore, that we may safely trust 
the conclusions reached, allowing some margin for errors of analysis, 
although even that has been done with as great care as the descriptions of 
the various authors, and the help of a Cyclopedia of Games and Sports 
would permit.?" It should be said, however, that very few plays of children 
below school age (six years) appear in any of these studies. 

It may be needful also to offer a word of apology for the insertion of 
Mr. Culin's list of gangs, but it is certainly the play spirit which animates 
them, and they serve to bring out an interesting comparison between civi- 

42 



PLAYS OF CIVILIZED CHILDREN 43 

lized and savage play. The same might be said of many kinds of juvenile 
societies. These, however, do not appear on the chart. 

Accepting the chart games, then, as offering a fair "sample" of the 
entire general list, one rather interesting comparison at once appears, 
respecting the difference between the sexes in choice of games. That 
portion of the chart in which boys' games predominate (Mr. Culin's) is 
characterized by continuous lines of entries, and fewer of them. They 
are expanded vertically, while in the portions including games of both 
boys and girls in about equal numbers the lines are more broken and 
straggling, that is, they are expanded horizontally. This difference is of 
course due to the presence of the girls' games, and it bears out the 
opinion which several authors have expressed, namely, that boys play 
fewer games than gu-ls, and have much stronger preferences for those which 
are their favorites. 

We question, however, the further statement of these same authors who 
observe that males show greater variability than females in choice of games. 
Our chart suggests that the difference in variation is a difference in kind, 
not in degree— that, given an equal amount of energy to both the boy and the 
girl, the first will expend it upon a few lines of interest while the second will 
divide it up among many. We may say, perhaps, that the variation of boys 
is up and down the scale, that is, vertically, while girls vary in the direction 
of the "all-round" interest, that is, horizontally. If this be true, and 
granting, also, that play is typical of life in general, we should expect to 
find among men a relatively larger number representing both the highest 
and lowest in race development, while a relatively larger number of women 
should represent the "many sided," the humanitarian interests. Whether 
the first part of this proposition be true or not, namely that more men than 
women vary above the average, cannot be known experimentally until 
women are free as men to live out their highest capacities, unhindered by 
a wage so small as to debar them from advantages which men find necessary 
for their best achievement, and untrammeled by fear of intrigue and treach- 
ery from which they have, as yet, no means of protection, except by with- 
drawal from the danger, and likewise from their opportunity also. But 
the other end of the argument, namely, that more males than females vary 
helow the average, finds some confirmation in the fact that, both in London 
and in New York, presumably representative cities, about two-thirds of 
the defective children are males.* On the other hand, when we consider 
that the highly organized games and city gangs, representing a very objective 
and a very intense life, are more typical of boys, while societies for mere play, 
* See an article by the author in Pedagogical Seminary^s (March, 1907), 31. 



44 PLAY ACTIVITIES OF ADULT SAVAGES AND CHILDREN 

self-improvement, benevolent and altruistic organizations of all sorts, that is, 
interests of a more subjective type, appeal far more strongly to girls than to 
boys, we find still further confirmation of this possible law of variation. It 
explains, also, why girls can be much more easily diverted from one interest 
to another. They have, if we may trust the charts, more inherent tendencies 
with which to respond to various sorts of stimulation. This is in line with 
Mendel's discovery that, physiologically, the female is more complex even in 
the original cell. 5" On the other hand, the very fact of fewer interests on 
the part of boys, i.e., fewer avenues for escape of nervous energy, accounts 
in itself, perhaps, for the greater intensity. 

Another comparison also suggests itself here, namely, that the difference 
between civilization and non-civilization may consist simply in an exaggera- 
tion and combination of both these types of variation. Variation up and 
down the scale certainly seems to appear in the superior intellectual capacity 
of at least a few among civilized individuals, while there is certainly a far 
larger proportion of imbeciles and defectives among civilized than among 
savage peoples. On the other hand, no one would question for a moment 
that the range of interests is far broader among the civilized races. 

Comparative. — The details of the children's chart may be considered 
somewhat briefly, inasmuch as the more careful analysis of the chart of 
Eskimo play has already called attention to significant 
boraatic points. The group of columns v-ix under "Somatic Char- 

. .. acteristics" teaches beyond all question, that if children are 

let alone to find amusement and self-training as impulse 
directs, by far the greater part of their pleasure will be found in reactions 
which involve the activity of the whole body. Many of the house games, 
even, involve frequent change of position, or marching, or perhaps a 
scramble for seats. In fact the column indicating activity of the whole 
body is more continuous with the children than it is with the Eskimos. 
Furthermore, the proportion of "Running Games" is far greater with the 
children. 

If we turn over the "Fighting Plays" (column vi), arm-tracking, hook- 
and-crook, foot-pushing, etc., to the "Whole Body" plays (see p. 26), 
as was done with the Eskimo lists, there is again left a collection of games 
requiring more specialized muscular control. The list includes marbles, 
juggling, tossed ball, jackstraws, pease-porridge-hot, missy-massy, two 
little blackbirds, "this is the church," cat's-cradle, up-Jenks, parlor croquet, 
parchesi, bean bags, Simon says "thumbs up," ring on the string, pillow dex, 
tit-tat-taw, mumblety-peg, roller skates, bicycling. So far as the employ- 
ment of skill is concerned, the Eskimo games stand well in comparison; 



PLAYS OF CIVILIZED CHILDREN 45 

however, drawing, painting, and playing on musical instruments do not 
happen to be represented on the chart of children's plays. 

"Quiet Plays" are about equally well represented on both charts, with 
this difference, however, that on the Eskimo chart a larger place propor- 
tionately is given to singing, dancing, and drumming, i.e., to rhythmic 
plays. Dancing is not once mentioned on the children's chart as a play 
for its own sake, but it is often an accessory to other plays and games. Some 
of the quiet plays are included in the list just given; others are, hunt the 
button, picture-tossing (a gambling game), some singing games, Quaker 
meeting, post-office, wishing rhymes, rhymes of augury, jingles of various 
types, "this little pig went to market," "dog Latin," "cat Latin" (i.e., 
plays of the vocal organs), hide the button, various guessing games, a great 
variety of card games, dolls, forfeits, dramatic plays, parchesi, and many 
similar games, charades, riddles, puzzles, checkers, proverbs, philopena, 
consequences, "cross-questions and crooked answers," "table rappings," 
chess, twenty questions, backgammon, dominoes, reading, making pictures, 
telling stories, making toys, etc. 

Unlike the muscular games, into which the Eskimos seem to bring 
relatively a greater amount of skill than the children, the "Quiet Games" 
on the children's chart more often call for quick perception or imagination 
or constructive powers, as, for example, acting charades, guessing riddles, 
conundrums, etc. 

Under the second general rubric, "Organization," proportionally fewer 

"Individual" games appeared as compared with the Eskimo chart. The 

reason of this is undoubtedly found in the exclusion of most 
Type of . 

Ore-aiii/ation °^ ^^^ games of children under six years of age (school age). 

Among those which do appear, however, are bonfires, rope- 
jumping, hop-scotch (which is sometimes played alone, sometimes with 
others), a pretty little finger play in which the child places the hands back to 
back, then closes them over the fingers, with the exception of the upward- 
pointing index fingers, while she repeats the words 

This is the church, 

And this is the steeple; 
Open the door. 

And see all the people. 

Tops, "buzz," and cat's-cradle, coasting, skates, roller skates, dolls, 
housekeeping, swimming, swinging, kites, puzzles, jackstraws, jackstones, 
play wagon, bicycling, kites, reading, fishing, boat-sailing, roll hoop, cars, 
"making things" appear. It may be noticed, however, that while the 
number of individual plays is smaller than with the Eskimos, the variety is 



46 PLAY ACTIVITIES OF ADULT SAVAGES AND CHILDREN 

much greater. But while on the Eskimo chart the list of "Individual 
Plays" and those of the "Undefined Group" were in about equal propor- 
tions, on the children's chart the entries under "Undefined Group" greatly 
exceeded the others. This again was partly due to exclu.sion of plays of the 
youngest children, I)ut the results of columns xiv, xv, and xvi lead one to 
feel that it was partly due also to a greater tendency to organization in 
American children. The plays represented by "Single Pair," "Double 
Group," and "Organized Group" are all better represented on the chil- 
dren's chart, and what is of still greater interest, two classes of games were 
noted on the children's chart, namely, "Team Games," and "Gangs," 
which had nothing corresponding to them on the chart of the Eskimos. 

Again the same difference between unorganized and organized play 
appeared in columns xvii and xviii, where the proportion of games to play 
was much greater on the children's chart. We can hardly resist the con- 
clusion suggested by the double study, that organization is much more 
typical of children's play in civilized countries than among adult savages. 
This opinion would be much further strengthened had "societies" been 
included in the chart, as well as gangs. Furthermore, in both of these, as 
well as in the team games, a new and additional element of organization 
appeared, namely, organization for permanency. 

A comparative study of the psychical characteristics showed that sensa- 
tion had a slightly more emphatic place on the Eskimo chart (column 
Psych oloffical ^i^)- The same was true of "Rhythmic Plays" (column 
Character- xx). But here again we miss the plays of the children under 
istics school age, who were, therefore, too young to be playing 

on the streets. 

"Dramatic" tendencies (column xxi), i.e., perceptual play, were about 
equally represented on both charts, and probably deserved on both a 
stronger representation than they had. 

In "Games of Skill" (column xxii), the Eskimos certainly seemed to be 
relatively in advance of the children. This does not mean that they have 
more games of that character, but that a larger proportion of what they 
have are of that type. Like the children, Eskimos voluntarily place 
themselves under a rigorous course of self-training. 

The sense of the ludicrous (column xxiii), while strong with the Eskimos, 
appeared to be even stronger with the children. Playing practical jokes 
seems to be one of the strongest incentives in the formation of street gangs. 
Among other plays mentioned are leapfrog and several similar games; last 
tag, in which a ridiculing couplet is hurled at the one who happens to be 
last in reaching his retreat; "follow your leader," who tries to conduct his 



PLAYS OF CIVILIZED CHILDREN 47 

party through all the absurd and difficult feats possible; Spanish fly, 
similar to the last in type; several plays, the purpose of which is to foist 
some practical joke on a new-comer in the neighborhood; snap the whip, 
mouse trap, contemptuous rhymes, April-fool tricks (not shown on the 
chart), "dog Latin," "cat Latin," "smiling angel," "pretty maids," and 
other games, in which one who makes a wrong guess is derided in some way; 
"Buffalo Bill" and other "shows"; battle, knucks, stagecoach, and 
similar games involving a series of ridiculous motions; forfeits, acting 
charades, Simon says "thumbs up," philopena, roly-poly, cross-questions, 
Quaker meeting, etc. 

"Individual Competition" (column xxiv) was a very strong character- 
istic on both charts, but "Group Competition" had a very much more 
prominent place on the children's chart. This study confirmed the con- 
clusions reached under the rubric, "Type of Organization." 

The children had a much larger variety of " Games of Chance " (column 
xxvi) other than gambling games. Many of these were card games, but 
among those which were not were "splitting tops," prophets, Hallowe'en 
charms, wishing rhymes, several guessing games, dominoes, parchesi, con- 
sequences, "cross-questions and crooked answers," and "counting out" to 
see who shall be "it." 

The study of "Gambling Games" (column xxvii) showed that while 
Eskimos are winning stakes with dice, roulette, archery, and throwing 
games, American children are winning them with marbles, buttons, pennies, 
pictures, eggs, cards, and other devices. 

The "Ordeal" (column xxviii) would seem, perhaps, to belong exclu- 
sively to savage society, but apparently it has its counterpart in the play 
of civilized children and youth. It is a marked characteristic of many of 
the city gangs. Our national game, baseball, may be considered to have in 
it the element of "ordeal," in somewhat the same sense as the "singing 
contests" of the Eskimos, inasmuch as it demands the same perfect self- 
control on the part of the players. It is our belief that the young men who 
excel in this game so regard it, and that this feeling of being "on trial," in a 
sense which makes it a character test, accounts in large measure for the 
fascination of the game. But aside from this, most of the city gangs 
impose some sort of ordeal upon the incoming members, while younger boys 
not formally organized into gangs have various ceremonies of "bumping," 
stuffing the new boy's mouth with straw or earth, soiling his clothes with 
tar, and jokes of a similar nature. ^^ 

"Courtship Plays" (column xxix) were far more numerous on the chil- 
dren's chart, but with this difference, that with the little children, at least. 



48 PLAY ACTIVITIES OF ADULT SAVAGES AND CHILDREN 

they are mere play with almost no meaning. Rhythm, song, and motion 
are the really attractive elements in them. The unmeaning jumble of 
words, which Mr. Babcock found in use in many of the games played by 
Washington children, showed that the players were scarcely thinking of 
what the rhymes meant. With the Eskimo, however, the case is quite 
different. To him a courtship game is the "real thing." With the ending 
of his singing contest or wrestling match he wins or looses a bride. 

The same is true of "Religious Plays" (column xxxi). With civilized 
children it is a question if any very deep religious fervor pervades their 
plays of "funeral," "Quaker meeting," and spirit communications by 
"table rappings." With the Eskimos, it is no make-believe when the 
spirits of departed friends are invited to share in the songs, dancing, and 
festivities for the dead. The dead are present; they listen to the songs 
composed for them; they partake of the food, and when the festivities are 
over, they are given specific instructions to go back to their home in the 
earth, or sea, or wherever it may be. 

The column "Intellectual Play" (column xxx) furnished one of the 
most interesting comparisons of the whole study. On the Eskimo chart we 
found the following games and plays: original songs, story-telling, carvings, 
checkers (introduced, and not in general use) map-drawing (suggested in 
every case, probably, by foreigners), singing contests (in which the main 
purpose is psychical), and angakok or shaman performances (in which 
there is not only a psychical motif but often a considerable amount of 
legerdemain). 

On the children's chart, too, are stories, also reading and "making 
things," which corresponds somewhat to the inventiveness shown in the 
Eskimo carvings, toys, and maps. Then we found several types of intel- 
lectual play not represented on the Eskimo chart. Some of these are of a 
very low grade intellectually, mostly played by young children — such as 
the guessing games of buttons, "this and that," hide the thimble, birds, 
ribbons, "pretty maids," good night, etc., in which the intellectual play is 
merely a guess, without any basis of judgment. But there are other guess- 
ing games which involve more intellectuality. "Hull gull" trains in 
counting, and also has the element of competition. Object-guessing, guided 
by questions and answers, involves the "abstract judgment." The same is 
true of "twenty questions." Then there is the group of games represented 
by checkers, backgammon, and chess, and the card games represented by 
authors. Simon says "thumbs up" is a motor-auditory play; Jacob and 
Ruth and shouting proverbs are auditory plays; philopena, a memory 
play; cross-questions and crooked answers, forfeits, and consequences are 



PLAYS OF CIVILIZED CHILDREN 



49 



humorous plays. Then came those of a still more purely intellectual 
nature, such as charades, puzzles, rebuses, etc. All these made a list of 
quite a different character from those found on the Eskimo chart. With 
the Eskimos the best intellectual element was found in play. With the 
children it was found in both play and games. 



IV 

GENERAL COMPARISON OF THE TWO FIVEFOLD GROUPS 
WITH RESPECT TO PLAY CHARACTERISTICS 

On the whole, then, it must be said, that: 

1. Comparing chart with chart, the play of the savage tribes studied 

and the play of civilized children do not run in parallel lines. All 

the elements which appear in savage play reappear in 
Two Fivefold ,, , . ■ -y a x.-\a u ,- ^ ^ ^ ^^ 

„ that of civilized children, but in some respects the resem- 

blances are very striking, while in others the differences 

are very great. 

2. Furthermore, this difference is not only one of proportions in the 
elements involved, but there is also a difference in quantity and kind, both 
the number and variety of games being comparatively very much greater 
among the children. In fact, Mr. Crosswell states that his reports from 
the public-school children alone named over five hundred different amuse- 
ments.^° 

With the Eskimos there is a marked repetition of the same plays in the 
accounts of different authors, even where the observations were many 
hundred miles apart and among groups which have no communication 
with each other. The children's chart, although including one and one- 
half times as many plays as the Eskimo chart, and although the same 
method of recording has been employed, shows far less repetition. 

3. There is also a difference in complexity. This complexity is most 
clearly shown in the charts, in columns xv, xvi, xviii, xxv, and xxx, but it is 
still more evident in the process of analysis of the games, the children's 
games being far more difi&cult to separate into elements and to redistribute 
into a true classification of characteristics. In fact, the work was done over 
and over many times before a classification was found which seemed 
satisfactory. 

4. Further, a new element disclosed itself in children's play, with the 
appearance of "teams," "gangs," and "societies," namely, organization 
of the group into permanent relations for purposes of play. We find nothing 
whatever of this in any of the five tribes studied. The nearest approach 
to it is among the Central Australians, where certain groups have certain 
totemic ceremonies belonging to and played by that group alone. But the 
difference between the two is this: among the Australians the group exists 

50 



PLAY CHARACTERISTICS OF TWO FIVEFOLD GROUPS 5 1 

because of the totemic ancestry, and independently of their dramatic 
ceremonial plays, not for the sake of the plays, while with children the "team " 
and "gang" and many of the "societies" exist merely for the sake of aug- 
menting the pleasure and efficiency of the participants, and the accomplish- 
ment of more difficult results. Such organizations foster a long-sustained 
interest and the pursuit of distant ends. 

5. Play among savages is far less dissociated from the serious occupations 
of life than is the case with children, except with little children. In the 
ordeal and religious plays, the singing contests, and in the festivals to the 
dead, and less truly, perhaps, in the gambling games, there is no dissociation 
at all. The play is the logical expression of their philosophy of living. And 
even the mimetic plays and dances, and the ceremonials of the Australians 
are not something invented for play's sake, but a faithful reproduction in 
pantomime of what they themselves have experienced, or what they believe 
their ancestors have experienced. So markedly true to this dramatic type I 
form is the play of the groups here studied, that we are inclined to believe \ 
that all play in its primitive forms had its genesis in actual experience, and \ 
that it is only when the experience is forgotten, or is crystallized into a myth, | 
that it gradually becomes conventionalized and handed down by one genera- 1 
tion to another as a "traditional" game. This theory furnishes, possibly, 
an additional explanation (see p. 13) of why a people so isolated as the 
Veddahs or Central Australians should have such a paucity of games. 
The conditions under which they are living are so similar to those of their 
ancestors, that their play is still permeated with all the associations which 
it originally possessed, and their monotonous lives suggest no new associa- 
tions. Hence their play still retains its dramatic form. The Bushmen 
and Yahgans, on the contrary, driven from one part of the continent to 
another by the stronger tribes which pressed upon them, have had a more 
varied history; so, while retaining the activity of the play as an agreeable 
exercise, they have, in some cases, lost the particular associations originally 
surrounding the imitative sport, and, keeping the form only, have developed 
it, meanwhile, into a "game of skill." 

The same process of dissociation of thought, through change of habitat, 
has undoubtedly taken place with the Eskimos, though in a time long past. 
But with them the long months of Arctic night, almost compelling them to 
play or die, have nurtured the play instinct, and developed it far beyond 
that of similar savage tribes not thus thrown back upon their own resources 
for means with which to pass away the tedious hours while shut in by 
darkness or storm. 

In confirmation of the theory that games as well as play originated in 



52 PLAY ACTIVITIES OF ADULT SAVAGES AND CHILDREN 

experience, we are fortunately able to quote from Rasmussen44 a descrip- 
tion of an Eskimo game in process of making. He says : 

I stood in the center of a gay group, on just such a late summer evening; the 
men, old and young, sat clustered round a seal-catcher who was making a sledge. 
Behind us shouting children played their games. 

Suddenly one of them called out, qaqailsorssuakut! which, in this connection, 
means, "The men with boats without masts!" 

The cry was echoed by the whole tribe of them, and they tore in a wild race up 
to the hills, where they hid in the hollows of the stones. 

I wanted to know what it all meant, and my question gave one of the old 
ones an opportunity of narrating an interesting legend. 

"Do you see that low, black iceberg yonder?" he began; "that is what the 
children are nmning away from. In olden days, at the approach of the first dark 
evenings, there was always a good lookout kept on the sea, for it sometimes 
happened that ships came into sight, out at sea, ships without masts. They were 
nakasungnaitsut, the short-legged men, or, as they were also called, qavdlunatsait, 
a race of white men who were very warlike; they used to come up here with great 
boats, the stems of which were higher than the bows, so the old people tell us. 

"These white men came originally from these parts, so tradition relates in the 
legend of the girl who married a dog. These qavdlunatsait were amongst her 
children; when they grew up, she made a boat out of a sole of a leather boot and 
started them out to sea, so that they might sail to the country where the white men 
lived. 

"'Ye shall be fighting men!' she had said to them when they went away. 
These are the words of the legend. 

"After that, men were always afraid of the ships that came up here, for they 
invariably picked quarrels and killed. But often a dark iceberg was mistaken 
for them, and roused false terror in the village; and that is what is now grown 
into a game among the children. 

"One year it was already winter when sledges, which were out hunting wal- 
ruses, discovered one of the white men's big ships frozen up in the ice. That was 
out beyond Northumberland Island. The people knew from experience that 
sooner or later these men would come and attack them, so they decided to be 
beforehand with them. 

"Armed with lances and harpoons they rushed up against them on foot. 
The ice round the ship was new and smooth, and so they bound the skin from 
the palate of seals round their feet, that they might not slip. The white men 
were taken by surprise, and, as they found it difiicult to run on the smooth ice, it 
was an easy matter to overcome them. Thus the men from these parts avenged 
the deaths of their compatriots." 

With the above account of the way in which Eskimo children play, 
compare the following accounts given by Mr. Babcock in "Games of 
Washington children. "^ 



PLAY CHARACTERISTICS OF TWO FIVEFOLD GROUPS 53 

A mother having children for all the days of the week cautions Sunday, the 
eldest, to "take care of Monday and all the rest and don't let them get hurt. If 
you do you know what I'll give you." After the mother has gone the witch comes 
in and says: "Little girl, please go (pointing) and get me a match for my pipe. 
There's a bulldog over there and I am afraid to go." She goes for the match. He 
snatches up Monday and makes off. The mother returns. 

Mother: "Where is my Monday gone?" 

Sunday: "The old witch has got her." 

Mother: "Do you know what I told you ? I'm going to beat you." 

She makes a pretense of doing so. This program is repeated until all the 
children are stolen except Sunday. At the next visit the witch says, "Little 
girl, little girl, come with me and I'll give you some candy." She goes with him. 
All the children are shut up in a room. During the absence of the witch the 
mother breaks into it and rescues them. 

The second play is equally suggestive. 

Witch discovered making a fire. Enter mother with children behind her in 
single file, each grasping the clothes of the one next in front. This line marches 
around singing, 

Chickamy, chickamy, cramery, crow, 
I went to the well to wash my toe. 
When I came back my chicken was gone. 

Pausing before the fire-builder, the mother asks, in continuation of the song, 
"What time is it, old witch?" The witch replies, "One o'clock." The march 
and song are resumed. On coming around again, the question is repeated, and 
the answer is, "Two o'clock." This is continued with ascending numerals, until 
the twelfth round. After the answer "Twelve o'clock," this conversation begins: 

Mother: "What are you doing there ?" 

Witch: "Making a fire." 

Mother: "What are you making a fire for?" 

Witch: "To roast chickens." 

Mother: "Whose chickens ?" 

Witch (fiercely): "Those of your flock." 

She springs out at them and they scatter On the eastern shore of Maryland 

the mother fights for the chickens.^ 

6. With the phylogenetic group there seems to be less differentiation 
between the sexes in their choice of games than with American youth. We 
have found no account of women joining in the wrestling games or any of 
the plays which are intended merely as feats of strength, but they play 
baseball, tag, chase, leapfrog, etc., even with little babies in their hoods, 
with quite as much zest as do the men.^° 

7. Lastly, sensation, perception, and judgment, when applied to actual 
concrete conditions, find ample exercise among the five savage tribes, in 



54 PLAY ACTIVITIES OF ADULT SAVAGES AND CHILDREN 

both play and games (see p. 41). The abstract or philosophical judgment 
and the reasoning powers find partial expression in ordeal, courtship, and 
religious plays and in their festivals, and, frequently, in the mimetic dances 
and dramatic ceremonies, but not one native game has been discovered in 
any of our researches relating to these particular tribes, in which the chief 
source of enjoyment consisted in purely intellectual activity, such as, for 
example, riddles. 



V 
STUDY OF CHILDREN'S PLAY BY PERIODS 

Thus far we have failed to find a complete parallelism between our 
phylogenetic and ontogenetic groups. Shall we then leave the subject with 

. these general comparisons, or shall we attempt still further 

Dpvplonmpiit ^° determine whether there be any ground for the theory 
that the child recapitulates the experience of the race ? 
The latter seems the more inviting course to pursue. The discussion of a 
theory is sometimes more helpful than the theory itself, and frequently leads 
the participants to build better than they know by revealing to them that 
the theory under contention is, after all, but a partial statement of a far 
grander, richer, and more fundamental truth than they have yet discovered. 

In the more detailed comparison which follows, of the play of savages 
and of children's play, the attempt will be made to discover whether the play 
of savages corresponds to any part of children's play, to any particular type, 
or to any particular period of ontogenetic development. 

In order to accomplish this task, it will not only be necessary to discover 
the various elements which enter into play — an analysis already performed — 
but the particular elements which characterize different periods of a child's 
development must also be determined. In this part of the investigation 
we shall depend almost wholly upon data already available through the 
researches of others, notably Dr. G. Stanley Hall, Professor Barnes, Messrs. 
Guliek, Crosswell, Babcock, Lindly, Sheldon, France, Monroe, Culin, 
Kirkpatrick, Miss Freer, Miss Shinn, and others (see bibliography). While 
thus scanning the life of the individual purely as a matter of convenience, in 
treating the subject by periods we must be guarded at every point against 
any thought of abrupt transition from one period to another. There is no 
exact moment when any individual passes from infancy to childhood, or 
from childhood to youth, nor is there any law which applies, without varia- 
tion, to any individual. Nevertheless there is a certain advantage in 
isolating one period from another, in order to bring out its striking char- 
acteristics, and to get a basis of comparison not otherwise obtainable. Such 
a method, artificial though it be, is helpful in grasping relationships and in 
determining sequences, if any are to be found, in the developing powers of 
mind and body. 

In order to make the exact nature of the problem explicit, it will be 
necessary to summarize somewhat carefully the conclusions already 

55 



56 PLAY ACTIVITIES OF ADULT SAVAGES AND CHILDREN 

reached on the ontogenetic side. In so doing we shall quote freely from 
the above-named authors, adopting, for convenience, the classification into 
periods, as made by Gulick,^^ namely, (i) babyhood, approximately from 
birth to three; (2) early childhood, from the beginning of the third year to 
the seventh ; (3) later childhood, from the beginning of the seventh year to the 
twelfth, (4) early adolescence, from the beginning of the twelfth to the seven- 
teenth year; (5) later adolescence, from the beginning of the seventeenth 
year to the twenty-third. We will study separately the characteristics of 
each of these five periods. 

What are the plays of childhood and youth ? [says Gulick]. Do they form a 
logical and coherent whole ? Is there any orderly progression ? If so, whence 
do they start, and to what do they lead ? . . . . Hard and fast divisions [into 
periods] cannot be made, not only because they do not exist, but because children 
vary so much — some are precocious, others are slow. All that is attempted is to 
have years in which it is possible to recognize certain great groups of activities. 
In this classification it must be remembered that each group includes all the 
preceding. The individual loses nothing as he grows. Everything that he has 
acquired remains to him as a joy and a recreation, if it is in the right relations. 
The baby will play in the sand for hours, making marks with his fingers, picking 
up a handful and letting it trickle out. Such simple plays as these never lose 
their interest. 

But we do find new interests coming in as the child advances in life, and 
these new interests are the elements which differentiate one period of develop- 
ment from another. In order to get a clear understanding of this genetic 
or transitional aspect of the play activities, it will be advisable to study the 
above-named periods from three distinct points of view, namely: (i) the 
objective or factual standpoint; (2) the subjective or psychological stand- 
point; (3) the biological standpoint. 

FIRST PERIOD — FROM BIRTH TO BEGINNING OF THIRD YEAR 

"How do babies play?" asks Gulick, and answers the question thus: 

All will recognize .... the characteristics of ... . plays of babyhood 
.... the spontaneous kicking .... the clasping movements, the movements 

of the head The baby rapidly progresses to playing in 

p more complicated ways .... to pick things up and drop them, 

to play with sand .... piling it up and digging in it with the 
fingers, scooping it with the hand, digging it with a stick, sticking little sticks in it, 
covering things up with sand, and .... making litde imitations of things. He 
soon loves to play with blocks, pieces of wood, sticks, straws, anything out of 
which he can construct something. He will take delight in running and throw- 
ing his arms at the same time. Throwing .... a ball engages his passionate 
interest. "3 



children's play by periods 



57 



We might add to these plays the peek-a-boo games which babies 
delight in, the stair-climbing, pounding on the piano, hiding behind chairs, 
the sensori-motor "little-pig-went-to-market" jingle, and in the latter part 
of the period, the pleasure in listening to nursery rhymes having a very 
marked rhythm, especially when accompanied by rhythmic action. 

Meanwhile, what is going on in the baby's mind ? So far as we know, 
the infant's first consciousness is an aggregation of sensations unassociated 
. in consciousness with each other, and appearing gradually 

Phase ^" ^^^ psychical world, but bringing with them, neverthe- 

less, affective characteristics of pleasantness and unpleasant- 
ness. 5 ^ As the senses become acute and the muscles more responsive to the 
stimulation of the nerve endings, the lifelong task of investigation is begun. 
The ball is pinched, pounded, tasted, the tin cup banged, the spoon dropped, 
the hair pulled, the face scratched — at first without purpose, but very soon 
from choice, in order to repeat a sensation which has once proved agreeable. 
When memory is sufficiently developed so that the child chooses between 
activities, voluntarily returning to one rather than to another, we say, "He 
is playing," but to the child it is not play; it is the serious work of life, in 
quite. the same sense, probably, as that of the astronomer who forgets all 
else in absorption in some new discovery. Both play with balls, each after 
a manner characteristic of bi= o^vp staee of development. 

But note that the baby's absorption is in the sensation and in the activity, 
not in the object for its own sake. The child builds with blocks, but he does 
not care to preserve what he builds; the sensory delight which comes with 
the crash of their downfall and the mere pleasure of doing are enough. 

Note, too, that through all this period, reflex imitation is very marked. 
The child laughs when others laugh, cries when they cry, "weeps with those 
who weep," shares their anger, imitates their gestures and tone of voice — 
many times without volition, almost unconsciously — yet he is, nevertheless, 
enlarging, meanwhile, his world of sensation, and co-ordinating muscular 
activity therewith. Sensation, motion, emotion, and their relations to each 
other — these are the problems, of no small magnitude, toward which the 
baby mind is turned. Yet the greater part of the intellectual life seems to be 
an almost uncontrolled response to whatever stimuli, physical and social, 
happen to surround him. 

In what general way may we characterize these interests, these plays ? It is 

evident that they are progressive in regard to complexity of movement, (also) the 

-„.,., first movements .... of the baby are feeble as compared to 

Biologfical u- 1 . . 1 • , . . , , 

Phase movements; his later movements are feeble as compared 

to his movements as a little boy Then, too, we may 

easily see that these movements are the fundamental ones that become reflex 



58 PLAY ACTIVITIES OF ADULT SAVAGES AND CHILDREN 

during later life, the earlier bodily movements of the baby certainly do. All the 
mechanics of running, jumping, throwing, handling tools, and the use of the body 
become thoroughly reflex in later life, and this is the period in which they are 
becoming reflex. It is to be noted that these activities are individualistic. They 

are not games; the little child does not play games It is also evident that 

these earliest activities are common not only to all human races, but also to the 
higher animals, in varying degree A moment's reflection on the develop- 
ment of the nervous system will show that we have a most intimate relation 
between this psychical development, and the development of the spinal cord 
and the brain. Recent investigators tell us that during the first one or two or 
three years of life, the spinal cord, together with certain lower parts of the brain, 
comes into almost complete activity; that it is the period for the acquirement of all 
those activities that depend upon the spinal cord. These, as we all know, are 
the reflex activities. They constitute activities dependent upon the "lower 
level," so called, of the development of the nervous system, according to the 
Hughlings Jackson theory. ^^ 

SECOND PERIOD — BEGINNING OF THIRD YEAR TO THE SEVENTH 

During early childhood — three to seven — children enjoy building with blocks. 

At first the buildings are simple and regular, the blocks stood up in rows 

more or less distant. The idea of regularity appears to be definite, 

Factual o j t-t > 

' but [there is] little idea of symmetry until the latter part of this 

period and then I suspect it is the copying of older children. 

Children enjoy swinging, are fond of climbing, will climb low trees, will climb 

banisters, experiment with jumping from chairs, with jumping from steps 

To cut things with scissors, or with a knife, is the basis of a whole group of 

activities of a play nature. Swinging in various forms he [the child] loves to do. 

See-saw interests all children. The joggling board of some of our southern states, 

being analogous to a large springboard, is of great interest. Riding hobby horses, 

driving a broom, and a multitude of exercises of a similar nature, are common. 

.... Thus we see the boy soon learning to shoot with bow and arrow, with 

sling, with rubber shooter, with the protean forms of toy guns. We observe his 

growing interest in work with tools The attachment for dolls comes in 

the latter part of this period among girls. ^-^ 

Fortunately, we have a supplementary study upon children between five 
and six years of age, of so great value that we quote at length. Miss 
Sisson,s3 writing of the free play of her kindergarten children before school, 
at recess, and at noon, states that they "divided themselves into four distinct 
groups, though sometimes a play of more than unusual interest would unite 
them all." Concerning their spontaneous choice of play activities, she 
writes: 

The first group consisted of the older and more active boys. Their plays 
required much action. They ran, they wrestled, they climbed with all the might 



children's play by periods 59 

that was in them. They played a great many highly imaginative games, some 
of them rather rough and boisterous. During the time that I observed them, not 
quite two months, I noticed thirty-one distinct kinds of spontaneous, dramatic 
plays, in which almost all this class of children were engaged; for instance, police- 
man, hunter, store, electric-light men, etc 

The next group consisted of older girls and some of the little ones, whom they 
drew in to play minor parts. Their games were almost entirely dramatic, and 
consisted usually of playing house or playing school. These plays were generally 
conducted very quietly, out on the sand pile at first, where they built the houses, 
gardens, etc., and then when it became rainy, in the hat room or in the wood- 
shed 

The third group was made up of the smaller children, and one of the older 
but more bashful girls. They generally indulged in simple representative games, 
but spent a large portion of their time running from one part of the yard to another, 
because of some passing whim, over to the faucet to get a drink, or over to the 
sand pile to see what the others were doing 

The last group was a miscellaneous remainder They had no leader, 

for they were not organized The chief attraction to this group was the 

swing. They very seldom ran 

The duration of a game varied greatly; sometimes it would last but a minute 
or two. Once such a play as the "wild hog" occupied the attention of the larger 
boys for two and one-half days. Again they had a slanting beam, on which the 
boys played for nearly the whole time for nearly a week. One boy pounded a 
bolt steadily for nearly twenty minutes; he played that he was mending a car, 
and said that he was playing that the bolt was a screw, that he needed a screw- 
driver, but as he had only a hammer, he should have to pound with it. He 
stopped only when the bell rang. 

An important point to notice is the appearance of the same play on consecutive 
days. The swing has been in use all the time with trifling interruptions, from 
the time it was put up in September. They slid and performed on the beam, one 
end of which was on the fence, and the other on the ground, every day for a month, 

but at the end of that time, it was accidentally thrown down Hunting 

either wild hogs or other animals appeared thirteen times during about thirty- 
five days. Tops were on hand every day, from October twenty-sixth, till about 
the first of December. There were but three or four days, during the last two 
months of the term, that the giris did not play either house or school. The 
following list of plays of the larger boys will show the order in which these plays 
occurred, and the frequency with which they took place: October twenty-fourth. 
Policeman; twenty-fifth. Policeman and hunters; twenty-sixth. Wild Horses, 
Hunters, and Salvation Army; thirtieth. Butcher and House; November first. 
Butcher, Jail; second. Hunting, Cars, Circus; third. Butcher, Band, Procession; 
sixth. Band, Ladder, Steamer, and Circus; seventh, Ladder, played vdth as 
Steam-engine, and Circus-train; eighth. Ladder, played vnth as Pipe-organ, 
and then Wood-saw; ninth, with ladder as a steamer; thirteenth. Dragon; four- 



6o PLAY ACTIVITIES OF ADULT SAVAGES AND CHILDREN 

teenth, Wild Hog; sixteenth, Wild Hog, Train, Indians; seventeenth, Wild 
Hog, Indians; twentieth, Merry-go-Round; twenty-first. Cars; twenty-second, 
Circus and Menagerie; twenty-third. Policeman; twenty-fourth. Cars; twenty- 
eighth, Horse; December fifth. Electric Light Men, Circus; seventh, Wild 
Horse, Bear, Robbers, and Policeman, Electric Launch, Steamer and Boats, 
Indians; eighth, Indians; eleventh, Santa Claus, Wild Horse, Store, Street- 
watering Cars; twelfth. Teams of Horses, Telephone. 

The general quality in the plays that attracted and held the children was action, 
found either in purely physical plays or dramatic plays in which all could take part. 
And in their representative plays, those that dealt with natural objects had a greater 
holding power than those that dealt with artificial things. 

As you will have noticed, the traditional games, such as "London Bridge" 
and "Prisoner's Base" played but little part in the amusement of kindergarten 
children. Out of doors, the game of "Hide and Seek" was the only organized 
traditional play that was suggested by the children. Near the beginning of the 
term, I showed them how to play "Drop the Handkerchief." They enjoyed it 
then, but did not call for it themselves. Sometimes their dramatic play came to 
have a set form, but that set form was always at the mercy of the leader, who 

varied it to suit himself Though the children are still very imitative, they 

seemed to have developed a good deal of originality, and independence. For 
instance, when they were standing on the ring in the kindergarten, ready for their 
games, I asked the musician to play an unfamiliar tune, and told the children to 
do anything they liked as long as the music continued. These are the answers the 
children gave me as to what they did, the last time we did this: "Hopped," 
"crawled as a horse," "elephant," "grasshopper," "black-legged man," "bird," 
"scare-crow," "bear," "river," "sand-bug," "wheel." You will notice that but 
two played the same thing. You will notice that but one confined himself to the 

purely physical desire for motion, all the others being representative Only 

the older children were present when this observation was made. 

The plays seemed to come from two entirely different sources. The first was 
the compelling power of the leader. A child obliged the other boys, by means 
of his personal influence, to make the ladder a wood -saw, when they wanted it to 
be a steamer. He could almost always draw the boys of his group into the play he 
wanted. Second, the special novelty or interest in the play itself led to its choice, 
even when not forced upon the attention of the school by an aggressive child. 
Thus the boys were greatly delighted with the idea of becoming acrobats, and 
without any incentive but the pleasure of the act itself each boy tried for days to 
equal the feats of Lewis, a quiet, non-aggressive boy. 

Both these classes of play were suggested by the environment of the children. 
Every public event which they saw in the world around them, or heard talked 
about by grown people, was mirrored in their play. But whatever they did, or 
from whatever reason they did it, their whole hearts went into their play. It was 
an expression of the children themselves, and a truer one than any set exercise or 
experiment could give. 



children's play by periods 6 1 

Now, what are the subjective or psychological characteristics of these 
plays? Sensation still affords great delight to the child, but rhythmic 
motions, sounds, and plays — the characteristic of which is to 
p. ^ reinforce the effect of isolated sensations — are eagerly sought. 

Sensori-motor plays still have a strong hold upon the child, 
but they are enjoyed not merely for the sake of the sensation or action, but 
sensation and action now have definite meaning. The child "emerges into 
a world of things, as opposed to a world of sensations." But a world of 
things implies lively perceptive and apperceptive activies both of which are 
undoubtedly uppermost in all the imitative and dramatic plays which 
reach their climax at about the sixth or eighth year. Furthermore, 
the effect of the action, as well as the action itself; control of environ- 
ment, as well as mere stimulation by, and reaction to, environmental 
influences; manipulation and choice of means to accomplish definite ends; 
and eager welcoming of any new experience, these enter into all the 
spontaneous plays. The general type is still largely instinctive and is 
highly imitative in character. 

The child is immensely inquisitive [says Gulick] and wishes to find things out. 
Its play is largely influenced by this feeling. I do not think that the destructive 
play of boys is merely destructive. It is related to the acquisition of knowledge 

and of the construction of other things Children before seven rarely 

play games* spontaneously. They do so sometimes under the stimulus of older 
children or of adults. The same fact may be stated in regard to competition. 
The plays before seven are almost exclusively non-competitive.'^ 

Comparing the plays of this period with those of babyhood, I would say that 
they are far more constructive, far greater in range, that the muscular movements 
involved were larger, more powerful, more sustained, but still 
BIO og"! • ^j much the same character. Unless influenced by adults, there 
is but little fine work with the fingers and wrists, not very much 
of delicate co-ordination. The movements are the larger movements of the 
trunk, shoulders, and elbows. It is a time of great activity. There is but little 
sitting still or keeping still when awake ^^ 

[Physiologically, the'brain has attained nearly its full size by the seventh or 
eighth year; meduUation in the peripheral system is almost completed in the first 
five years, and the limbs are growing rapidly.] 

THIRD PEiaOD — YEARS SEVEN TO TWELVE 

We quote again from Gulick as to the games characteristic of the period 
seven to twelve. 

* Italics mine. 



62 PLAY ACTIVITIES OF ADULT SAVAGES AND CHILDREN 

The ball games are played, "one old cat," an elementary baseball game, 
swimming and rowing Boys delight in the use of tools during this period, 

and in building all sorts of things, making little streams and dams, 
p paddle-wheels and boats, simple machinery of all kinds. Many 

games are now played, "duck on the rock," "black man," "blind- 
man's-bufif," "crockinol," "croquet," "leapfrog," simple feats of all kinds, turn- 
ing somersaults, rolling over backwards, marbles, "mumble the peg," "prisoner's 
base," "puss in the comer," "tiddledywinks," "touchwood." .... Girls play 
some of these games, "hunt the handkerchief," many games in which the circle 

is used During what I have called later childhood — from seven to twelve 

.... we have the height of ... . housekeeping arrangements At 

about ten the interest in dolls seems to wane, but taking its place is an interest in 

babies Every one of our babies has been borrowed by neighbors' children 

of about this age Boys do not borrow our babies Boys want 

knives to whittle, all sorts of plays with strings, flying kites. ^3 

Mr. Stevi^art Culin's study on "Street Games of Boys in Brooklyn, New 
York "^2 has a special interest for us just here, in the fact that his informa- 
tion was obtained from a lad of ten years who had himself taken part in all 
the games. We may be sure then that they are truly representative of the 
period of which we are speaking, although we might expect the emphasis 
to shift somewhat, from the simpler to the more complex games during 
the next year or two. He gives us a list of thirty-nine games and plays, 
an analysis of which has been made in the children's chart, under Mr. 
Culin's name. The " gangs " apparently belong to an older period, as 
Mr. Culin's informant knew very little about them, or it may be that they 
are becoming less popular than formerly, as other sources of enjoyment 
become available. 

During these years from seven to twelve we are able to see more clearly 
than before a distinct culmination of some types of play and the origin of 
other types. For example, the imitation of single objects 
pj as "sandbug," "grasshopper," "wild hog," "policeman," 

and so forth, had already passed its zenith before the begin- 
ning of this period, but social imitation, playing school, store, housekeeping, 
etc., still holds its sway until about the tenth year, when it begins to decline. 
According to Monroe, three-fourths of such plays are by children under 
eleven years of age. The same is true of the rhythmic games, such as 
ring-round-rosy, and farmer-in-the-dell, which in the early part of the 
period appealed so strongly to the children, especially to the girls.ss 

After the ninth year, toys used simply as toys give way to those which 
require some skill in manipulating, such as stilts, skates, marbles — but 
"marbles are rarely mentioned after thirteen," "croquet reaches the height 



children's play by periods 63 

of popularity at thirteen." About the beginning of this period, riddles and 
guessing games culminate in interest, puzzles from ten to twelve, and geomet- 
ric puzzles at the thirteenth year. In these, and in most of the other games, 
"the child desires not only power to do, but aims at quickness, dexterity, 
endurance, accuracy. He holds befgre himself a certain standard of 
excellence." "Perception, memory, and reproduction are not only used 
but tested. "^° "Games requiring some thought, such as 'twelve-men-o'- 
Morris,' begin to come into favor. "3 

Moreover, the delight, not only in muscular activity, but activity of a 
very vigorous type, becomes very marked. At six only 11 per cent of all 
games mentioned are games of chase; after the eighth year such games 
outnumber the others in the ratio of 2:1. Chase games reach their height 
by ten, and games of contest begin to take their place. The transition 
from toys to games means not only that organized activities, that is, play 
which has set rules, supplants, in a measure, the unorganized activities of 
early childhood, but social feeling also becomes stronger, as opposed to the 
marked individualism of the earlier period, in which respect they form a 
strong contrast. 

Meanwhile, the end to be attained in the play has become more remote 
and complex, and a tendency to form social organizations, in order to 
accomplish this end, develops during the latter part of this period, which 
implies also development of life outside the home circle. 

We have seen [too] how parental [traditional] influence was still a factor in 
determining the plays of the Swedish children of Worcester. Here again is a 
most striking instance of a game, "relievo," nourished and developed until it is 
mentioned by a third of all the Worcester boys, and yet apparently played but 
little by the boys of Brooklyn a little more than one hundred miles distant. But 
the interesting feature of it all is the substitution of games of the same class. In 
Brooklyn, "pass walk" and "prisoner's base," appear to be the substitutes for 
"relievo," while general observation in Chicago and vicinity puts "Pomp, pomp 
pull-away" in its place. '° 

Summary. — Summing up, now, the psychical characteristics of the 
children's play during the years seven to twelve, the following appear to be 
the most marked: 

1. A great number and variety as compared with the preceding periods. 

2. During the first half of the period, great interest in dramatic plays, 
housekeeping, store, etc., then a decline from that time onward. 

3. The social element of play has become very much more important, 
especially after the tenth or eleventh year. 

4. The interest in performing simple feats, such as turning somersaults. 



64 PLAY ACTIVITIES OF ADULT SAVAGES AND CHILDREN 

juggling, and so forth, prominent in the beginning of the period, gradually 
gives way to chase games which reach their height in popularity at ten, 
then gradually themselves give way to group games of contest, which, how- 
ever, do not attain their greatest influence until during the next period. 

5. A very marked characteristic of the games of competition, especially 
prominent in the first half of the period, is the ideal which the child holds 
before himself of dexterity, quickness, endurance, or accuracy, that is to 
say, a definite, conscious self-training in motor adjustment and control. 

6. The simple guessing games which were played at the beginning 
of the period are soon replaced by those of a more intellectual type, for 
example, twelve-men-o'-Morris, checkers, authors, and various other games 
of cards. 

7. As in the first and second periods the activities were instinctive in 
type, so also in the third group we still find the growing body determining 
the type of physical reactions, but superimposed upon these are the mold- 
ing influences of tradition, and of differentiation due to sex preferences. 
Gulick says of this period: 

In the main this group of activities starts in most individuals between seven 
and twelve. It is a higher group of interests than those that ripen in the earher 

stage It is a gradual shading off of emphasis from a group of activities 

whose center of interest is one's self to a group whose center of interest is one's 

self in relation to others In the main .... more complex intellectual 

activities are involved — competition is a characteristic of nearly all of these 
plays. More comphcated muscular movements are involved, and a higher degree 
of foresight than in the first group. 

Many of the movements of this group become reflex, but they are reflexes of 
a very high order, so high that we usually do not call them reflexes. These activities 
we may characterize as due to tradition, for while we find such activities among 
all children, they vary among the different classes far more than do the activities 
of the first group. The tradition of the group of boys determines the specific 

direction that the interest of the individual should take We may further 

characterize this group as constituting in a general sense the play life of the young 
of all higher races; they vary in different parts of the world but the bodily and 
mental qualities demanded by these sports are virtually the same in Africa and 
England, in China and America. The richness of these plays varies .... but 

these are questions of degree, and not of kind [Tag] plays are found in 

various forms aU over the world. They are played by all races of people, although 
it appears that among the lower peoples they are not taken up by so young children 
as they are among those that are further advanced.*^ 

8. The games of this period differ very much between boys and girls — 
a differentiation that is far more marked than it is in the earlier group. 



children's play by periods 65 

Hughlings Jackson already quoted speaks of the spinal cord and of the lower 

part of the brain as the "lower level" of the nervous system. It is the reflex 

T.. , . , level. The second level of development is the "sensori-motor" 
Bioloffical , . , . , , . , r , rx., , . 

Phase bram, and compnses about one-third of the cortex. The chief 

years for the development of this second level are during what I 

have characterized as the middle period .... the years from seven to twelve. 

All the finer motor and sensory development find their chief growth during these 

years. The upper level, so called, by this theory has to do apparently more with 

the inhibiting and co-ordinating capacity of the brain. ^^ 



FOURTH PERIOD — TWELVE TO SEVENTEEN 

At sixteen the chase games which were so prominent a feature in the 

preceding period have fallen to less than 4 per cent., while contest games 

have come in to take their place. At thirteen one-third of 

rflOrllfLl 

Phase ^^^ ^^^ games are of contest, and the proportion steadily 

rises until at sixteen they are to other games as 4 : i . Mean- 
while, the end to be attained in the game has become more remote. After 
thirteen the interest in puzzles declines. In their questionnaires, the boys 
and girls of about this age begin to give reasons for this or that interest, 
indicating that the critical judgment is becoming active. From ten to 
fourteen predatory and athletic and military societies greatly increase in 
number. A stronger tendency to withdraw from the home circle is shown. 
Strife for mastery is more characteristic of boys; the quieter type of contests, 
furnished in cards, is more characteristic of girls. 
Gulick says of this period: 

Coming now to our third major division, we find still more highly organized 

plays and games. These begin approximately at twelve They may 

begin earlier or may be postponed; in some individuals they doubdess never begin. 
Attention is called to the characteristics of this group of games — baseball, basket- 
ball, football, cricket, hockey are the chief games of the Anglo-Saxon young man. 
The plays of the period are usually done in gangs or groups, which show the 
aggregating capacity of the Saxon. Boys have their pals, homogeneous groups 
that maintain their personnel often for years. It is peculiarly the time for hero 
worship, and for its characterization by the plays of the period. All of these games 
and plays show the instinct for co-operation. The games all demand that the 
individual subordinate himself to the group. Team work is the keynote of this 
group as individual excellence was of the preceding. I do not mean by this that 
boys always do team work, for they do not. I do mean that that is the ideal that 
these games represent, without which it is impossible to secure superiority. 
Little boys will play football and seem to violate this orderly development that 
otherwise obtains .... (but) team work is comparatively rare. Football and 



66 PLAY ACTIVITIES OF ADULT SAVAGES AND CHILDREN 

baseball, as played by little boys, is a game of individual excellence, each player 
doing as well as he possibly can, but not sacrificing himself for the sake of the 

team in which he is playing 

These plays demand a higher degree of mental and moral qualities than do the 
preceding. The captain of a team must exercise qualities of a high order, analo- 
gous to those exercised by a successful chief. We note then, two 

Subjective major elements, co-ordination and self-sacrifice Savages 

who have reached the stage of co-operation are doing that which 

the Anglo-Saxon boy commences to do soon after he is twelve These group 

activities involve not merely the subordination of self and elevation of the group, 
but the pursuit of a distant end by means of definite steps, usually indirect, having 
a more or less definite program; involve obedience to a leader, even when he is 
evidently mistaken; involve self-control, loyalty to the group as a whole, and in 

varying degrees, the despising of pain and of individual discomfort Those 

activities that call for the highest things in boy Ufe, that arouse the most passionate 
enthusiasm, are those that involve this group activity — loyalty to college or country, 

some objective end rather than a subjective one 

Recent investigations of Flechsig and other observers have shovra that the 
period commencing about twelve corresponds in the development of the brain to 
the particular growth of the so-called tangential fibers, connecting 
Biolog-ical ^^^ different parts of the cortex. These tangential fibers are 
exceedingly fine, occur in three main layers and are related 
prominently to those parts of the brain that are neither sensory nor motor. They 
are association fibers. Flechsig now goes on into the realm of what is not demon- 
strated, and maintains that those areas of the brain are for association purposes, 
and hence he characterizes them as association areas. And further, that all the 
higher capacity in the individual in higher directions is related to this associational 
area development. This certainly fits in with observed facts, that independent 
eason has its chief pulse of growing life, beginning with approximately the same 

year — twelve — as do these tangential fibers ^^ 

[Kaiser found that the number of developed neurons in the cervical enlarge- 
ment in man more than doubled from birth to the fifteenth year and twice as many 
in the right hand as in the left.] 



FIFTH PERIOD — YEARS SEVENTEEN TO TWENTY-THREE 

During later adolescence — seventeen to twenty-three — there is a development 
of these same plays and games, but they are sufficiently different, so as, I think, 
to warrant making a separate group of them. The plays are 
^actua pushed to the limit of endurance and strength, as they are not dur- 
ing the earlier adolescent period There is a depth and 

intensit}- about it that older people can hardly realize, unless they have been 
through it. 



children's play by periods 



67 



[Perhaps the most marked psychological characteristic of this period is grow- 
ing willingness to endure all extremes of hardship in accomplishing self-imposed 
Subiectlve ^"*^ dangerous tasks in order that the "team" or "college" or 
Phase "society" may win. There is a growing feeling that "group" 

interests are something more worthy of sacrifice than mere personal 
victory. May it not be that, as the author just quoted suggests, this shifting of 
motive, from purely egoistic interests to the interests of a group, is the forerunner 
of the truly altruistic spirit soon to manifest itself in obedience to the obligations 
of home, society, and country ? ] 

The whole nervous and muscular apparatus, having been fairly well con- 
structed during later childhood and adolescence, is now tested and knitted together 
with vigor and given endurance and staying power. 

[Seventeen is the year when boys are growing most rapidly. 
The lungs reach their maximum weight about twenty.] 

[^Mwwar)'.]— Comparing now the three major groups— early childhood, later 
childhood, and adolescence — it appears that the plays of early childhood are 
individualistic, non-competitive, and for the accomplishment and observation of 
objective results. The plays of later childhood are individualistic, competitive, 
involve active muscular co-ordinations and sense judgments. The plays of later 
adolescence are socialistic, demanding the heathen virtues of courage, endurance, 
self-control, bravery, loyalty, enthusiasm, and the savage occupations of hunting, 
fishing, swimming, rowing, sailing 

Plays are progressive and that which is the greatest fun at one time is not at 
another, because the life itself is progressive ='•5* 



Biolog-ical 
Phase 



I. Babyhood 

(age approximately 1-3) 



Suggestive Summary 

Spontaneous involimtary movements of head, 
hands, legs, body. 

Voluntary movements. 

General activities basal, i.e., those which will 
be used so constantly throughout life as 
to become reflex. 

Reflex imitation marked. 

Volition appears in choosing between un- 
pleasant and pleasant experiences. 

Growing control of muscles. 

Delight in sensory stimulation. 

Type of play instinctive. 

A worid of sensation and involuntary re- 
sponse. 

Spinal cord and "lower level" of brain come 
into almost complete activity. 



*Italics mine. 



68 



PLAY ACTIVITIES OF ADULT SAVAGES AND CHILDREN 



2 Early Childhood 

(age approximately 3-7) 



Activities similar to above, but more complex. 

Muscles stronger. 

Play largely instinctive. Almost constant 

activity. 
Growing delight in rhythmic stimulation. 
Imitation, both reflex and voluntary, very 

strongly developed. 
Great absorption in play. 
Little diff^erentiation between play and 

reality. 
The world a world of sensation, perception, 

apperception. 
Individualistic rather than co-operative. 
Brain reaches nearly full size. 



3. Later Childhood 

(age approximately 7-12) 



Running games and others requiring vigorous 

exercise strongly characteristic. 
Dramatization, i.e., social imitation very 

strong. 
Games of skill, i.e., self-training, and games 

of competition, very characteristic. 
The end in play more remote than in previous 

group. 
The period of greatest number and variety of 

games. 
Great interest in "stunts." 
Amusements "traditional," and games rather 

than play. 
Beginning of social organizations. 
Some co-operation. 
Intellectual plays, e.g., riddles, puzzles, 

board games. 
Sensation, perception, apperception, and the 

"practical" judgment, all active. 
Slight differentiation of play between the 

sexes. 
Chief period of development of sensori-motor 

brain. 



4- Early Adolescence 

(age approximately 12-17) 



children's play by periods 69 



Somatic activity great. 

Chase games give way to games of contest. 

Sex difference in choice of games is marked. 

Life outside the home circle becomes more 
attractive. 

"Group games," "gangs," "societies" and 
"teams," replace "individual" play. Or- 
ganizations permanent as well as tempo- 
rary. 

Perception, apperception, critical judgment, 
active. 

Chief development oj "association fibers" oj 
brain. 



Plays similar but more intense — pushed to 

limit of endurance. 
Socialistic elements predominant. 
Social judgment and reasoning powers active. 
The world a world of ideals. 



5. Later Adolescence 

/.^r, .T^T,^^^.,,..^x.x,r - \{ Companlons tcstcd by ordeals 

(AGE approximately 1 7-23) \ ^ ■' 



Seventeen the year oj most rapid growth jor 

boys. 
Lungs reach maximum weight about twenty. 
Somatic growth almost completed by end of 

period. 



VI 

COMPARISON OF SAVAC.F-: PLAY WITH SUCCESSIVE 
PIORIODS OF CHILDREN'S PLAY 

With such fidelity as available data have made possible (i) we have 
now determined the elements of the play characteristics of five representative 
savage tribes; (2) by the same method we have analyzed the play of five 
groups of American children from five representative cities and localities 
of the United States; (3) we have made a general comparison of the two 
groujjs of play characteristics; (4) have made a further study of children's 
play by periods. It will be our next effort (5) to compare the play of our 
fivefold savage grou|) with each of the periods of child play, in order to find 
whether it does or does not correspond to any particular one of them. So 
far as can be judged by the analysis of savage play, the Veddahs stand 
lowest on the list in respect to development, and the Eskimos highest. 
Many other lines of comparison confirm this view. Whatever category 
includes these two extremes, then, must of necessity include the other 
tribes. Let us consider the subject in the light which the study suggested 
by the three general rubrics of our charts has shed upon the problem. We 
found that: 

J . In all the five groups of savages play is characterized by activity of the 
whole body. This is also true of every one of the five periods into which 
the study of civilized children has been divided. Thus far 
nin-i't'i-' ^^^^ ^^^^^ fivefold groups correspond. 

jigy 2. Both moderate and violent exercise is typical of savage 

play, as is the case with children, and when we read that the 
Veddah or Australian dances until he falls exhausted to the ground; that the 
Yahgans sometimes become so excited in their wrestling matches, and the 
manoeuvcrs so brutal, tliat fatal consequences result (p. 23); and that the 
Eskimo hugs his opponent with a grip which may cause the blood to gush 
forth from his mouth, we cannot but think that the "intensity" of the play 
is very comparable to that of modern "team" games. In this respect it may 
be said, then, that parallelism between the non-civilized adults and civilized 
children and youth is complete up to the end of the periods represented on 
the charts, namely the twenty-third year. 

3. With respect* to games requiring a delicate sensori-motor co-ordina- 
tion, and involving special volitional training of the finer muscles, almost 

70 



COMPARISON OF SAVAGE PLAY WITH CHILDREN'S PLAY 7 1 

none are found among the Veddahs and Australians, but the arrow contest 
of the Bushmen indicates exquisite control of arm and, hand muscles, and 
many games of the Eskimos are calculated to train those muscles. 

With the children's group, however, there are in addition to such plays, 
finger plays, vocal plays, visual, tactual, auditory, and perceptual plays, 
having almost nothing to correspond to them among the non-civilized adults, 
but which are indulged in by quite young children among civilized peoples. 
The children also have a larger proportion of running games. These facts 
suggest, at least, a keener sensitivity and somewhat more specialized muscu- 
lar control on the part of civilized children. Some of the studies which have 
been made in experimental psychology seem to confirm this view^sa but the 
subject will be further discussed in a future paper already referred to. 

The most characteristic types of play organization in our non-civilized 
group are described by the words "Individual" and "Homogeneous" 
. groups, and "Unorganized Play," but the "Double Homo- 

geneous Group" also finds representation in at least three 
of the tril)es, Australians, Bushmen, and Eskimos, and the Eskimos have a 
few games in which there is some ditTerentiation of parts. They are so few, 
however, and so local and so seldom mentioned by the authors who report 
them, that they cannot be called typical, and some of these, even, are appar- 
ently introduced games. In so far then as the organization of play is com- 
parable to any particular periods of the children's series, it would seem to 
correspond most nearly to the third and to the earlier part of the fourth, that 
is, to the years between seven and fifteen. 

The parallelism is not complete, however, for long before the end of this 
period civilized children are showing a considerable tendency to organize 
themselves into societies, both spontaneous and formal. Moreover, boys 
and girls who have reached the age of fifteen have long since dropped such 
childish plays as "making faces," cat's-cradle, etc., unless for the sake 
of amusing younger children, while they are still retained by the savages 
as amusements for adults. 

In the psychological characteristics of play, however, we find the greatest 
disparity between the two groups. 

I. The difference in complexity is very great. 
Psychological ^ "Sensory elements," "rhythm," "mimicry," "dra- 
^jgg matic representation, "skill, the practical judgment, 

"individual competition," are the characteristics which stand 
out with great emphasis in the study of the phylogenetic group, and these 
qualities are strongly characteristic of the civilized children, in the years 
from approximately seven to thirteen or fourteen. 



72 PLAY ACTIVITIES OF ADULT SAVAGES AND CHILDREN 

3. But American children have along with these plays many others in 
which purely intellectual activity is the attractive element — guessing 
games, charades, puzzles, geographical games, etc. — a class finding no 
representation whatever among the tribes here studied. The intellectual 
elements of the savage play correspond much more nearly to those of Ameri- 
can children from six to ten years of age ; yet civilized children younger than 
that enjoy simple intellectual plays. That this difference in types extends 
farther than mere play, that it is a real and not apparent attitude of mind, 
may be shown, perhaps, by one or two brief character sketches, introduced 
as supplementary evidence. The first is from the pen of Commodore 
Peary, whose long familiarity with the Eskimos makes his opinion particu- 
larly valuable. He says: 

Through all this laborious work, my happy, child-like crew was a constant 
source of interest to me. During the first two days of the voyage, they had been 
very quiet .... but now, well within the limits of "Ikaresungwah" (Whale 
Sound), and hugging the shore within a boat's length, they were garrulous as so 
many sparrows. The regular stroke of the oars seemed an incentive to continuous 
chatter. Spicy gossip of the tribe, the wonderful ship, incidents of our voyage, 
speculations as to my plans, apostrophes to the waves, the sky, the birds — an 
incessant stream. Never did an inquisitive burgomaster gull stoop with wide white 
wings to inspect the boat but what he was chaffed and derided; not a flock of 
busding little auks whirred past but they were followed by encouraging words 
equivalent to "Go it, little ones," "That's right," "You'll get there"; and the 
sight of a seal's glistening black head emerging from the water would be the signal 
for a volley of Takul Takii! Taku-u-u! ("Look") Puisse! in inimitable accents, 
and as much excitement as if it was the first seal of their lives. Yet at a word of 
caution from me the noise would cease, the broad backs strain and sway till the 
oars bent like whalebone, and the boat forged slowly through the boiling tide-rip 
round a projecting point. '♦^ 

The second quotation is from Rasmussen, who, having spent his boy- 
hood among the Eskimos, and who being familiar with their language, 
understands them, perhaps, as well as any white man living. 

When the young Eskimo grows into a man — and that happens the day it 
dawns upon him that his childish play can be taken in eamest; that he might 
just as well close upon a real bear as with the carved blocks of ice he used to play 
with; that he might just as well steal up to a real seal as to a make-believe one- 
he is filled with only one desire: to be equal to the others, the best of them; and 
this becomes his life ambition. All his thoughts are thus centered on hunting 
expeditions, seal-catching, fishing, food. Beyond this, thought is as a rule 
associated with care. 

Once out hunting, I asked an Eskimo, who seemed to be plunged in reflection, 
"What are you standing there thinking about?" He laughed at my question. 



COMPARISON OF SAVAGE PLAY WITH CHILDREN'S PLAY 73 

and said: "Oh! it is only you white men who go in so much for thinking; up here 
we only think of our flesh-pits and of whether we have enough or not for the long 
dark of the winter. If we have meat enough then there is no need to think. I 
have meat and to spare!" I saw that I had insulted him by crediting him with 
thought. 

On another occasion I asked an unusually intelligent Eskimo, Panigpak, who 
had taken part in Peary's last North Polar Expedition [1898-1902], 

"Tell me, what do you suppose was the object of all your exertions ? What 
did you think when you saw the land disappear behind you, and you found yourself 
out on drifting ice-floes?" 

"Think ?" said Panigpak, astonished, "I did not need to think. Peary did 
that!" 

During the year I spent with the Polar Eskimos, there was comfort and 
plenty everywhere, and, so far as I could ascertain, this was the usual state of 
affairs. Thus what they ask of life they receive, and their requirements being 
satisfied, an irresponsible happiness at merely being alive finds expression in their 
actions and conversation. They have all sorts of sudden impulses, and are free 
to follow them up unchecked. They are now here, now there, incalculable in 
their whims, now on dangerous and arduous hunting or sealing expeditions, 
now at jovial entertainments, and are touchingly grateful for a jest or joke.44 



VII 
CONCLUSIONS 

1. In view of the facts herein presented, regarding play activities, we 
conclude, then, that although a similarity certainly exists between the play 
Wfi T? . of the child race and of the child individual, especially with 
^Q respect to somatic characteristics, yet a process of differentiation 
Parallelism has been going on throughout the cultural period which has 

profoundly modified not only the final product, i.e., the product 
found in civili zation, but also all the intervening stages. It is our belief that 
this differentiation is shown, to a slight extent, in the physical organism itself, 
so that the physical body of the highest type found in civilization is somewhat 
more sensitive to stimulation than is the body of the highest type of savage. 
This opinion is not based, however, entirely upon the study of play, but 
partly upon a supplementary study on '^Somatic Characteristics." 

The chief difference appears, however, in the intellectual aspects of their 
amusements, and is a difference not of kind but of proportions, or we may say 
a difference of emphasis. Thus we find in the play of our non-civilized 
group somatic activities and emotional intensity characterizing civilized 
children and youth between the ages of six and twenty-three, a form of 
organization more nearly corresponding to the period from six to twelve or 
thirteen, and purely intellectual play somewhat comparable to that of civi- 
lized children from six to eleven years old, i.e., the time when sponta- 
neous imitation, and dramatization of social activities, maintains its highest 
interest, and when skill for its own sake and rivalry are the compelling 
motives in play. The studies on the ordeal, courtship, and religious plays 
are confirmatory of this view. The attitude of mind therein disclosed is 
the attitude of the child mind, not that of the civilized adult. 

2. But the diflference of proportions above referred to is not acquired 
in any given individual by living the life of a savage until the limit of his 
development is reached, then adding to that product something more, which 
extends development in ontogenesis to the point reached in civilization. 
The differentiation in parallelism is much more fundamental, reaching back 
to the beginnings of psychical life, and probably far back into the physical 
organism itself. 

The theory of psychical evolution thus presented, namely that while in 
any given period of ontogenetic development the psychology of children's 
play resembles, in certain respects, the psychology of savage play, yet at no 

74 



CONCLUSIONS 75 

point is like it, seems to us so entirely in accord with a recent statement of 
theory regarding somatic embryonic evolution,^^ that we cannot forbear to 
quote the statement at length. Professor Lillie says: 

Haeckel's formula, that the development of the individual repeats briefly the 
evolution of the species, or that ontogeny is a brief recapitulation of phylogeny, 
has been widely accepted by embryologists. It is based on a comparison between 
the embryonic development of the individual and the comparative anatomy of the 
phylum. The embryonic conditions of any set of organs of a higher species of a 
phylum resemble, in many essential particulars, conditions that are adult in lower 
species of the same phylum; and, moreover, the order of embryonic development 
of organs corresponds in general to the taxonomic order of organization of the 
same organs. As the taxonomic order is the order of evolution, Haeckel's generali- 
zation, which he called the fundamental law of biogenesis, would appear to 
follow of necessity. 

But it never happens that the embryo of any definite species resembles in its 
entirety the adult of a lower species, nor even the embryo of a lower species; its 
organization is specific at all stages from the ovum on, so that it is possible without 
any difficulty to recognize the order of animals to which a given embryo belongs, 
and more careful examination will usually enable one to assign its zoological 
position very closely. 

If phylogeny be understood to be the succession of adult forms in the line of 
evolution, it cannot be said in any real sense that ontogeny is a brief recapitulation 
of phylogeny, for the embryo of a higher form is never like the adult of a lower 
form, though the anatomy of embryonic organs of higher species resembles in many 
particulars the anatomy of homologous organs of the adult of the lower species. 
However, if we conceive that the whole life history is necessary for the definition 
of a species, we obtain a different basis for the recapitulation theory. The com- 
parable units are then entire ontogenies, and these resemble one another in 
proportion to the nearness of relationship, just as the definitive structures do. 
The ontogeny is inherited no less than the adult characteristics, and is subject to 
precisely the same laws of modification and variation. Thus in nearly related 
species the ontogenies are very similar; in more distantly related species there is 
less resemblance, and in species from different classes the ontogenies are widely 
divergent in many respects. 

In species of lower grades of organization the ontogenetic series is a shorter 
one than in species of higher grades, so that the final stages of the organs of a 
lower species become intermediate or embryonic stages in species of higher rank. 
But the stage of the lower species does not appear in all the organs of the higher 
species simultaneously. Thus the fish never exhibits the grade of organization 
of a fish throughout; while its pharynx, for instance, is in a fish-like condition 
with reference to arches and clefts, the nervous system is relatively undifferenti- 
ated, and it has no vertebrae; on the other hand, it has a heart of an amphibian 
rather than of a fish type. 



76 PLAY ACTIVITIES OF ADULT SAVAGES AND CHILDREN 

Some of these considerations may be represented graphically as follows: let 
us take a species D that has an ontogeny A, B, C, D, and suppose that this species 
evolves successively into species E, F, G, H, etc. When evolution has progressed 
a step, to E, the characters of the species established develop directly from the 
ovum, and are therefore, in some way, involved in the composition of the latter. 
All of the stages of the ontogeny leading up to E are modified, and we can indi- 
cate this in the ontogeny of E as in line 2 : 

1. ABCD 

2. A' B« C'D«E 

3. A» B» C=> D^' Ei F 

4. A3 B3C3D3E2 F' G 

5. A4B4C4D4E3F2GIH 

Similarly, when evolution'has progressed to species F, seeing that the characters 
of F now develop directly from the ovum, all the ontogenetic stages leading up to 
F are modified, line 3. And so on for each successive advance in evolution, 
lines 4 and 5. It will also be noticed that the terminal stage D of species i 
becomes a successively earlier ontogenetic stage of species 2, 3, 4, 5, etc., and 
moreover, it does not recur in its pure form, but in the form D* in species 2, D* 
in species 3, etc. Now if the last five stages of the ontogeny of species 5 be 
examined, viz., D* E^ F^ G' H, it will be seen that they repeat the phylogeny of 
the adult stages D E F G H, but in a modified form. 

This is in fact what the diagram shows; but it is an essential defect of the 
diagram, that it is incapable of showing the character of the modifications of the 
ancestral conditions. Not only is each stage of the ancestral ontogenies modi- 
fied with each phylogenetic advance, but the elements of organization of the 
ancestral stages are also dispersed so that no ancestral stage hangs together as a 
unit. The embryonic stages show as much proportional modification in the 
course of evolution as the adult, but this is not so obvious owing to the simpler and 
more generalized character of the embryonic stages. 

In the acceptation of the foreoing conclusions regarding the comparative 
play characteristics of savage adults and civilized children it must be kept 
in mind, that: 

1. We are not discussing the development of the above-named groups 
as a whole, but only that phase which represents the spontaneous, recreative 
side of life. The suggestion is indeed strong, that the characteristics here 
found extend much farther than to mere play activities, but final conclusions 
relating to psychical phenomena other than play impulses must await the 
completion of supplementary studies. 

2. We are not discussing what the members of our fivefold groups are 
capable of playing, but what they play. Whether the same tribes reared 
under exactly the same conditions as civilized children would have developed 
exactly the same capacities and inclinations as the latter class is an entirely 



CONCLUSIONS 77 

different question, and one not even touched in this discussion. The 
question suggests an inviting field of experimental research, but surely it is of 
some value to know these people as they are, not only for those who propose 
to make their life work among peoples little civilized, either as teachers or 
as missionaries, but for a nation which has already put itself on record as a 
champion of weaker races. What a splendid tool for education might all 
of these find in the much-loved drama of the savage ! 

3. The conclusions here expressed as to tastes and inclinations in play 
must not be construed as applying to all savage tribes. The study is pur- 
posely confined to some of the lowest in development. 

Reviewing, now, the various lines of thought by which the end of our 
discussion has been reached, we are confronted at length by the questions, 

What is play ? What is its genesis ? 
VVitli Kespect j^ jg j^q|. q^jj. pm-pQgg h^j-g iq present again the various 

p^ theories already before the public. Spencer's theory that 

play is due to an excess of energy in unused brain centers, 
which discharges itself in play activities, is true to the extent that energy is 
certainly present and expended during such activity; but why "excess" of 
energy ? 

The theory of Groos that play activities are anticipatory (i.e., a drill or 
training for adult life) has certainly so much of truth as this — play does so 
train. But why does the child in his ignorance of adult needs react in 
just those ways which do thus train him ? The explanation needs itself to 
be explained. 

And lastly we have the theory of Dr. G. Stanley Hall that the child 
recapitulates psychical interests and activities of the race, as well as physical 
structure, through inheritance. Sometlnng certainly is inherited, or there 
would be no child to play; but if the child's psychical interests develop in 
the order in which the race developed them, why does he take pleasure in the 
whisde of his toy engine long before he begs for bow and arrow or fishing 
rod? 

Without denying a portion of truth to all these theories, we venture to 
suggest a fourth, which possibly may be allowed a place beside the other 
three — a theory which may perhaps be called 

THE BIOLOGICAL THEORY OF PLAY 

Does not the growing body itself provide its own best explanation of the 
fact of play? (i) Sensitivity to stimulation, and (2) power of reaction to 
stimulation seem to characterize all forms of living matter. But the structure 



7S PLAY ACTIVITIES OF ADULT SAVAGES AND CHILDREN 

of the body places limitations upon the kind of reaction which it is possible 
to make. A kitten cannot react to a pool of water as the fish does, nor can 
the fish take on the reactions of the kitten. From the standpoint of both fish 
and kitten, such a procedure would be as undesirable as it is impossible. 
Both animals react as did their ancestors, because limitations of bone, 
muscle, tendons, nerves, and vital organs necessitate their acting, if they act at 
all, in just those ways and in no others. Just so the child being built upon the 
same general plan as were his ancestors must of necessity use the same 
muscles and organs and in about the same way, and in so doing both 
recapitulates his phylogenetic inheritance and anticipates his ontogenetic 
future in those plays which have been called "instinctive," and which are 
especially typical of infancy and early childhood. All that is needed then 
to account for ^^ instinctive^^ play is the impulse to act, and this he has at 
birth, endowed as he is with sensitivity to stimulation. For the rest, the 
child's environment, both physical and social, pours in upon his sensorium 
a constant stream of stimulation, suggesting the particular act of the imme- 
diate present. But the type of the activity is determined by the stage of 
development which the growing body has reached. With the infant, the 
head and arm muscles, being strongest, control the somatic type of play, 
together with the developing sense-organs of the nervous system and the 
brain. Sensations, coming through the sheen of light, the shake of the 
rattle, the throwing of the ball, are his mental toys and his delight. Later, 
when stronger muscles co-operate in stronger and more complex move- 
ments and when further brain development makes perception and apper- 
ception possible, activity of the whole body is the somatic type, while 
mentally imagination, volition, and imitation become his toys. And so we 
hear, "Tell me a story," and see, a little later, the story epitomized in 
dramatic representation. 

Meanwhile, the brain having reached nearly its full size, a period of 
slower brain growth follows, and bones, muscles, and lungs take their 
turn at rapid growth. Just now comes in the period of "nmning games," 
"tag," "hunting games," etc., with rivalry and skill as toys, only to be 
followed by "contest" games and co-operative groups, necessitating 
adjustment of means to ends, at just that period of life when tangential 
fibers uniting the various centers of the brain are developing most rapidly, 
and all the organs of the body are maturing. 

Why does the desire for this violent exercise pass away as the body 
ceases growing, and why do intellectual and business occupations gradually 
become, not merely necessary, but really more congenial ? May we not 
safely assume that in the normal, well-ordered life the brain continues to 



CONCLUSIONS 



79 



develop in histological structure long after somatic growth has ceased, and 
that with the increasing complexity of brain structure, not acts, but the 
relations of acts, the abstract reasoning, the constructive imagination become 
the toy of the adult, as sensation, perception, skill, conquest, and co-opera- 
tion for distant ends have been in the past ? Is it not significant that what- 
ever the type of play may be, it just keeps pace with the type of somatic 
growth ? And does not the impulse to exercise these growing parts furnish 
all the explanation that is needed for the existence of the play activity ? 

But why the impulse to exercise the growing organs ? 

The tissues grow by means of chemical elements brought to them by the 
blood. The more rapid the heart beat the more rapid the circulation of 
blood and therefore the greater the food supply brought to the tissues. It 
is an interesting fact that even the normal heart beat is quicker in the grow- 
ing child than in the adult. Possibly it is because of the greater demand of 
the tissues in the growing child that this is so; and tissue-demand-for-more- 
food {tissue hunger, if we will) may be only another name for play impulse. 
The child does not understand why he likes to run better than to sit still 
any more than he understands why he likes to stretch himself after he has 
slept so soundly that the heart has slowed its beat and the brain has ceased 
functioning. But the stretch of the muscles quickens the heart beat once 
more, the yawn brings oxygen to the lungs, and soon the drowsy brain, sup- 
plied with better food, is functioning again. 

Just so in playing tag, the child is quickening the circulation of the 
blood and feeding bone and lungs and tissues with chemical elements 
necessary for their growth. He feels only the impulse to do, to move, to 
fidget. If opportunity for play be denied, the impulse remains still, and 
frequently expends itself in mischief or "incorrigibility," but if all exercise 
be denied, then the growing tissues must suffer the unavoidable con- 
sequences of partial starvation. Back of psychological impulses are physio- 
logical functions; back of physiological functions are histological changes; 
and back of histological changes are chemical attractions and repulsions. 

With respect to ''traditional'^ games, we have already anticipated the 
theory, namely that they have their genesis in experience — somebody's 
experience — and that they are handed down from generation to generation. 
As the dramatic element of the original play drops out and is forgotten, it 
gradually becomes conventionalized into a game of skill. The more varied 
the history of the people the more experiences, and hence the more traditions 
to be handed down. 

But this conclusion with respect to play, both instinctive and traditional, 
brings us face to face with a larger question still. Play is an instinct. Is 



8o PLAY ACTIVITIES OF ADULT SAVAGES AND CHILDREN 

instinct, then, due only to chemical attraction, tissue hunger, structure, 
stimulation, imitation, and tradition? 

If this be true, then instinct is but another name for hunger. If this be true, 
then instinct is post-natal as well as pre-natal. It is constructive, not passive. 
It is determinative, not determined. It is dynamic, not static. It is volitional 
as well as reflex, and the controversy as to whether instinct is "relapsed 
volitional action," or whether it is purely "reflex" is forever brushed aside. 
It is both ; it is neither. 

The pedagogical inferences from our study of play are so apparent as 

hardly to need the emphasis of repetition. 

I. Any system of education which leaves out of account 
With 
P , , the "hungers" of the child, both physical and psychical, 

PedaffOffical leaves also out of account his whole development. 
Applications 2. The play hunger is but one of many. The greater the 

variety of normal hungers, the more developed the child. 
But the type of hungers, not the number of his years, indicates the extent of 
his development. True, mind and body alike maybe starved or over-stimu- 
lated, until they are unbalanced or until they cease to function normally, but 
these are pathological cases and do not fall within the scope of this discussion. 

3. Some of these normal hungers are indicated in the analysis of chil- 
dren's play — hunger for exercise, for social appreciation, imitation, organi- 
zation, sensation, rhythm, self- training, competition, co-operation, fun, 
intellectual activity, companionship, and religion — all these, and others 
which may be determined, are the impelling forces by which development 
will be accomplished and personality and character shaped. 

4. These cravings are more than mere incidental likes and dislikes. 
They indicate the degree of health and growth which mind and body have 
attained. 

5. A hunger unsatisfied, over-stimulated, perverted, or fed upon in- 
jurious food can only result in arrest of development. 

6. The duty of pedagogy is to place before the hungry pupil food 
suited to the normal appetite. Not one of the ingredients named above 
can be omitted from the menu. For the abnormal appetite specialists are 
needed who can give each case as careful consideration as does the skilled 
physician to his patients. 

7. The proportions in which the ingredients of mental diet should be 
mixed must change with changing development. The proportions which 
normal children use themselves when strongly interested will be the teacher's 
best guide. 

8. The study of less-developed types of humanity, both civilized and 



CONCLUSIONS 8l 

non-civilized, will be an invaluable aid to the teacher, not only in quickening 
his own sympathy and capability of helpful service to society in general, 
but in placing at his command a vast fund of knowledge and of facts which 
may be made directly useful for instruction. To understand the part which 
instinct has played in the promotion of civilization, the process by which 
impulsive, objective acts have become subjective, abstract, social, altruistic, 
is to know how to direct the child's longings so as to create a further hunger 
for worthy, progressive, heroic living, rather than for satisfaction in mean 
and sordid aims. 

9. That children's stories, poems, and songs, the type of pictures they 
make, their emotions, their attitude toward punishment, authority, and 
law, their critical judgment, their belief in charms, their ideals, and even 
their plays are subject to laws which apply alike to the Bushman, the 
Chinese, and the American is just as surely established as is the fact that 
the periods of slow and rapid physical growth and the changing proportions 
of the body are subject to law. The pedagogy of the future must be based 
upon these laws. 

Some of a child's deeds are symptoms of a waning tendency; they are survivals 
in functioning of an organ which has done its part and is passing out of vital use. 
To give positive attention to such qualities is to arrest development upon a lower 
level. It is systematically to maintain a rudimentary phase of growth. Other 
activities are signs of a culminating power and interest; to them applies the 
maxim of striking while the iron is hot. As regards them it is, perhaps, a matter 
of now or never. Selected, utilized, emphasized, they may mark a turning-point 
for good in the child's whole career. Neglected, an opportunity goes never to be 
recalled. Other acts and feelings are prophetic; they represent the dawning of a 
flickering light that will shine steadily only in the far future. As regards them 
there is little at present to do but give them fair and full chance, waiting for the 
future for definite direction. 's 

10. The Culture Epoch Theory is, perhaps, the first really scientific 
effort to take advantage of race experience for the benefit of the child; but 
its followers have sometimes erred in that they have confused the type of the 
reaction with the conditions which stimulate reaction, and have thought to 
secure the benefits of race e.xperience by introducing the child into the 
specific activities of the primitive peoples or into a similar environment. 
To take this view is certainly to seize upon the husk and throw away the 
kernel. It is not the thing done, but the way it is done that is significant. 
The psychology of the reaction is the all-important thing, and we shall find 
that the psychology of the reaction takes on a different type as we rise in the 
developmental series. In whatever direction the mind expresses itself, the 



82 PLAY ACTIVITIES OF ADULT SAVAGES AND CHILDREN 

act will take on that type belonging to its specific period of development. 
Thus if it be the period when the sensori-motor type predominates, not 
only will the play be of that type, but literature, art, religion. As a matter 
of fact, many of the games and dances are religious in character, but it is 
religion expressed in terms of muscle, rather than in passive forms of 
abstract philosophy. And this is as it should be. Religious and moral 
ideas, dissociated from muscular expression, become hypocrisy. Many 
a mission field bears witness to the failure of attempting to force a subjective 
type of religion upon a sensori-motor type of mind; yet in educational 
matters the mission schools have been wise beyond their age in laying much 
stress upon the industrial, that is, the motor phase. 

11. Thus with both child and race, the all-important thing for both 
parent and instructor is to learn to know the type. If we study carefully 
the actual activities of these lowest tribes and the activities of civilized 
children we find very little in common between them except these types, 
these changing mental attitudes which manifest themselves in all the rela- 
tions of life. It is not a hunting instinct, as some have supposed, 
which the child inherits, but a hunger instinct — hunger for food and 
hunger for sensation. Whatever satisfies that appetite will call forth 
the typical reaction just as quickly, whether the stimulus belongs to modern 
life or to primitive conditions. So it is not the migratory instinct but the 
motor instinct which impels the child to wander into the woods or snowball 
his playmates with equal zest. It is not because a myth is a myth that the 
children listen to the narrator with such rapt attention, but because it is 
objective, striking, full of visual imagery, dramatic, the characters few, the 
relations simple, the forms of thought concrete, dealing little with subjective, 
abstract themes. But any other story which has these same characteristics, 
that is, the same type, will hold attention equally well. 

12. The value of the study of the culture epochs, then, is primarily for 
the teacher, not for the child, because in them are found supplementary 
studies of mental types, each one of which will throw some light upon the 
diagnosis of the special case in hand. To understand the race is to better 
understand the child. 

13. Do the culture epochs, then, yield no direct products for the pupil, 
as well as for the teacher ? 

The world is the child's; its people his people; its interests his interests. 
No mind is "cultured" which does not acknowledge its debt to the mind of 
the primitive folk. No education is "broad" which does not recognize the 
skill and patience and beauty of the primitive industries and products. To 
bring a knowledge of these and a sympathetic interest therewith into the 



CONCLUSIONS 83 

child's life, it is necessary to bring the specific products of the culture epochs 
corresponding most nearly to his own, into the realm of formal instruction. 
But to do this intelligently, it is necessary that the teacher add to his knowl- 
edge of genetic pedagogy a genetic anthropology; to his genetic psychology 
a genetic somatology, and for a curriculum based upon textbooks and 
years of school attendance, must be substituted one based upon types of 
DEVELOPMENT, including both Mind and Body. 



VIII 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

The following authoriries have been consulted in preparing this monograph. 
Many minor articles have been omitted, the aim of the author being to include 
only such as possessed intrinsic value. We regret that Seligmann's exhaustive 
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